A Bundle of Hope
by Mrs. Hotchner-Wolfe
Summary: Divorce, babies, new found love and happieness... Can't say too much without giving away what happens. HotchJJ Chapter 19 contains spoilers for Minimal Loss... Final chapter is up... It feels so wierd changing in-progress to complete
1. A Night Of Passion

A NIGHT OF PASSION

It was late Friday evening when the team arrived back to the office. They had spent a week in South Carolina to catch a child molester. It had taken everything they had - and even more from Hotch - to catch the guy.

And now they were in the bullpen again, drained. " I think we could all use a few beers," Rossi suggested.

" I'm so in!" Morgan agreed. He turned to Garcia. " Gorgeous, you in."

" Definitely. Girls?"

" Sure, why not," Prentiss said.

" I can't... I have a bomb of files to take care of," JJ said, and disappeared to her office.

" I am so in... anything to forget about what we just saw." Reid announced.

" Hotch?" Morgan asked.

He was already pulling on his jacket. " Mmm?"

" We're going out for drinks. You comin'?" he asked.

" No I'm beat... gonna call it a night." He walked out the door leaving the team watching behind him.

When the rest of the team piled out, JJ made her way to her office and was there until after midnight. When she was finally finished, she grabbed a pile of files, her bag and her coat. Before she left she went up to Hotch's office to drop off the files she was carrying. As she was leaving, she noticed his wallet on the desk. " Might need it," she thought. she decided that if he wasn't up, she would pop it through the letterbox on the door.

She pulled into the driveway and was surprised to see a few of the downstairs lights were on. She made it to the door before the rain poured and before she could knock, Hotch appeared behind the now opened door. " Hi," she said. She had not expected him to be up and to open the door.

He leaned against the door. " What are you doing here?" he asked.

" You forgot your wallet," she said. She began routing in her bag for it. " Shoot," she said after a few minutes if rummaging. " I forgot it in the car." She looked out at the pouring rain.

" Why don't you come in until the rain eases up a bit?" he asked, stepping aside to let her in.

" Ok," she replied quietly, stepping inside.

He closed the door and led her into the living room. She realised she had never been inside his house before. Nor had she ever seen him dressed so relaxed; instead of the suit and tightly tied tie, he wore jeans, runners and a jumper with the sleeves rolled up and the zipper down past his neck. His hair was a messier then she usually saw it. " Can I get you a drink?"

" I probably shouldn't." But Hotch was already pouring a glass of wine for her. " Thanks... I thought you were going to grab an early night?" she said taking a long gulp, finishing the drink in one go. Hotch looked at her. Her face grew red. He took the glass from her and poured her another, handing it to her

" I couldn't sleep," he replied. " So..." He indicated the book that was face up.

"'The Shining'?" she questioned. " Is that such a good idea on a stormy night?"

He smiled and walked up to her. " I can handle it... Have a seat."

They talked for about half an hour about the case. They had gotten through about a bottle and a half of wine.

They sat in silence for a while. Then JJ grew uncomfortable and decided to break the silence. " Are you alright?"

" Yeah... Why? Shouldn't I be?"

" No, but it's just that... For the past week you've been... And since the divorce papers came..." JJ didn't know how to finish. " You can talk to me... I just wanted you to know that."

" Thanks but that's really unnecessary." He stared into his wine.

JJ looked out the window. She placed her glass on the coffee table. " I should go. I'll get your wallet for you." She ran back out and when she came back in with the wallet she was drenched. Hotch met her at the door. When she handed him the wallet, she could feel his eyes on her. She knew he was more drunk then she was, she could smell the drink off his breath. For some reason she didn't make any movement to leave.

" You should stay. We've both had a bit to drink." he said quietly.

" Which is exactly why I shouldn't stay." She looked up into his eyes, realising it was a bad idea before she did it. He bent down a kissed her gently on the lips. She kept trying to get herself to pull back. _He has Hayley, I have Will, _she told herself over and over again. She knew it was a bad idea to open her mouth to protest but she did and he let his tongue slide in.

JJ felt her knees weaken and wrapped her arms around his neck for support. Hotch placed his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him. They both realised that now that they had felt each others urgency they couldn't stop. Leading JJ upstairs and keeping the quarters between them close Hotch took off JJ's coat and his jumper, while she began kissing his neck and by the time they reached the bedroom all their clothes had been taken off and their lips pressed against each other. They didn't play any games with each other. They couldn't. They both fell onto the bed. Hotch quickly entered JJ. He was kissing her neck while he moved in and out of her. Hotch began moving to their breathing and not long after, they both came. Hotch fell down on top of her and rolled on to his back. When her breathing calmed down, JJ rolled onto her side, resting her head on Hotch's chest. She let him put his arms around her and they soon fell asleep without a word.


	2. The Morning After

THE MORNING AFTER

When JJ woke up the next morning, she quickly got dressed and left Hotch in the bed sleeping. She quickly drove home, had a shower, got breakfast, got changed and made her way to the Bureau. She ran onto the elevator and quickly jumped off. She ran into Morgan, Reid and Prentiss. " Is Penelope here?" she asked, shortly.

" Yeah, in her office..." Morgan replied.

" Everything O...K?" Prentiss asked. JJ didn't stick around to hear the question and quickly barged into Garcia's office, making sure to close the door behind her.

" WOW... No one knocks, do they?" she asked. When she saw the look on JJ's face, she became concerned. " Jayj...?" she asked.

" I slept with Hotch!"

Garcia's mouth dropped. " When?"

" Last night."

" How?"

" Hmm... let's see..." she began sarcastically. " I drank, he drank, we kissed and then we started ripping off each others clothes and then..."

" Ok," Garcia interrupted. " Spare me the details." She looked at JJ. " How was it?"

" It was... good... and weird... and different." She said as she crossed the room to sit down. Garcia spun around to face her. " I mean Hotch is my boss..."

" I'm sorry, but I thought Hotch went home before you did last night?"

" He did... but he left his wallet and I went to his place and it started raining hence the drinking which led to the ripping each others clothes off and the or-"

" Stop it, JJ!" Garcia exclaimed. JJ smiled. " What about Will?"

" I know, Pen... I feel awful... I can't believe I cheated... that isn't like me!"

" And Hayley?"

" I have no idea where they stand... I have no idea where we stand!"

" Do you think what happened has anything to do with the feelings you had for him when you met him?"

" I don't know... maybe. Damn it, Penelope... what am I gonna do?" she asked exasperated. She put her head on her hands and leaned over between her knees.

" You could try sleeping with your boss... oh wait a minute!"

" Are you gonna help me at all?"

" I'm sorry, kitten..." She got up, walked over to the other blonde and took her hands. " I'm afraid you're gonna have to face the music." She pulled her up and dragged her out to the bullpen.

They reached the group of three JJ had run into earlier. " Hey guys. What's going on?" Reid asked as they joined.

Before either of the girls could answer, Hotch entered the bullpen. " JJ, can I have a word with you in my office?" he said without stopping.

JJ shot a look at Garcia who smiled sweetly. " Good luck," she said.

JJ smiled sarcastically and followed her boss up to his office. " What's goin' on there?" Morgan asked. Garcia just shrugged and walked away.

When JJ arrived at Hotch's office, he was hanging his coat up on his coat rack. She stayed in the doorway. " Hotch... what's up?" she asked casually. Hotch threw her a "you-know-what-I'm-talking-about-look". She entered the office and took a seat. " Hotch, it's not necessary..."

Hotch sat down next to her. " JJ..." She could see that all he wanted was for this to be over. " I need to know this won't affect our work?"

" Hotch... trust me... that's the last thing this'll do." She smiled.

He smiled back. " Good. I'm glad."

" It was a one time " Hotch... trust me... that's the last thing this'll do." She smiled.

He smiled back. " Good. I'm glad."

" It was a one time thing. We were drinking. The case had gotten to us... We're adults."

" As long as we're clear and we can carry on as though nothing ever happened..."

" Exactly."

" Good." He stood up. She did the same. They stood there for a few more seconds before JJ walked out and threw a smile at Garcia.


	3. Finding Out

FINDING OUT

Two week later, Penelope Garcia was sitting in her office playing Tetris when JJ burst in, tears pouring down her face. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, she was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants . she had this week off so Garcia was surprised to see her at all let alone in this state.

She went over to her friend, and pulled her into a hug. " Jayj," she said " What is it?" JJ said something incomprehensible. " What?" she repeated.

" I said I think I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed.

Garcia was shocked. " Oh... My... God... Are you sure?" She led her friend to a seat.

" No I'm too scared to find out for certain."

" Then..." she began, confused.

" I'm late... And I've been sick but I just thought that it was because of something I ate."

" JJ... did you and Hotch use protection?"

JJ looked up. " OH GOD!!" she said and began crying fresh tears. " NO! We were too busy ripping each others clothes off to take any notice of that!"

" Well, if you are pregnant, Jayj and unless you and Will have had sex recently then you and Hotch have a lot to talk about!"

" I can't be pregnant!" she insisted.

" JJ you need to get a test... I'll come with you, just... Please?"

JJ looked at her friend. " Ok..." Garcia took her friend's hand, grabbed her coat and led her out to her car. They got in and Garcia drove to JJ's apartment. They went inside and JJ curled up on the couch.

" I'll be back," Garcia comforted.

" No, Pen... where you goin'?"

" I'm just gonna run to get a test."

" Home Pregnancy Tests don't work on me."

" Look... we'll do one home test and then we'll go to the hospital and get a test there."

" I'll come," JJ said getting up from the couch.

" You don't have to..."

" I can't just sit around with the fear that I'm pregnant with my boss's baby... I need to do something!"

" Ok." They went to the pharmacy down the road, bought the pregnancy test and made their way back to the apartment. JJ quickly ran into the bathroom, and when she came out placed the stick on an old magazine on the coffee table.

Garcia sat on the couch flicking through a magazine while JJ paced around the room. " Sit down," she ordered. " Your making me nervous."

" How long's left?" she asked sitting next to her friend.

Garcia put down the magazine." It should be ready now... You ready?"

" Nope." She reached for the test and held it between them. The two girls looked at each other.

" We should go to the hospital just to be sure." The girls drove to the free clinic at the hospital and waited. They were called in, the doctor took some blood samples from JJ and asked them to come back in an hour. The walked around, went to the cafeteria and were back in the waiting room in plenty of time.

Finally the doctor came out. " Jennifer Jareau." The three women smiled at each other. " Have a seat." The doctor said when Garcia and JJ entered the office. " I got your test results back...

" And..." Garcia pressed.

" Your test came back positive," she said smiling. " You're pregnant!"


	4. Telling Aaron

TELLING AARON

Garcia drove JJ home and she cried herself to sleep that night and the night after that in her hotel room in New York and the night after that on the plane home.

For a week after she had found out she was pregnant, she had been avoiding Garcia. She knew she would try to get her to tell Hotch but she knew she couldn't. Unfortunately for JJ, Garcia was a step ahead of her and was standing outside the elevator when the doors opened, arms folded.

" Hey, Garcia," she greeted.

" Have you told him yet?" was her response.

JJ began walking to her office. Garcia followed. " No."

" Why not?"

When the two girls were inside the office, JJ closed the door, turned to her friend and lowered her voice to a whisper. " Telling him is the worst idea ever... So many people can get hurt by it. I can't tell him... I mean there are so many people to think about... What if Hotch and Hayley decide that want to give it another shot? How the hell will Jack feel when he finds out his daddy is having a baby with someone who isn't his mommy? How will Will feel when he finds out I cheated on him with the first guy I had an unrequited love for when I started working here? How the hell will Hotch and I be able to ever work together again?"

" How will everyone of those people feel when you're baby is born and it looks just like Hotch?

" There's a thing called adoption, Penelope."

" So what are you gonna do Jayj? Just tell people you're gaining weight and nine months later it magically disappears overnight... That a friend asked you to be a surrogate for them... WHAT?"

" Or no one ever needs to know I'm pregnant..." she said.

" What you'll leave the BAU?" JJ looked at her friend. " How do you plan on pulling that off JJ... unless you can make a baby magically disappear..." Then she realised what her friends idea was. " Abortion... you'd kill your baby... just to avoid telling its father it exists?"

" How can I cope with a baby on my own?" Just when JJ thought she'd cried all she could, new tears rolled down her face. " I don't like it but I don't have a choice."

" What if you told everyone the baby was Will's?"

" Will and I haven't slept together yet..." " I can help you take care of this baby..." Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.

" Guys, Gideon wants everyone in the round table room now... There's a case," Prentiss said. She threw a file on the table and walked back out.

" C'mon." Garcia put an arm around her friends shoulder and led her out and up to the conference room.

" What is it?" JJ asked taking a seat at the table.

" There's a serial Bomber in Phoenix," Gideon said. " He ties a bomb around someone and then sends them into a store and detonates the bomb."

" How come I didn't get this ?"

" The head detective's an old friend of mine." Gideon pulled up pictures of what was left of the victims. The sight made JJ want to throw up. When he flicked to the next picture she couldn't handle it anymore.

" Excuse me," she said. She got up quickly and hurried out of the room. The whole team looked after her.

When the team disbanded, Garcia hurried to the bathroom. " JJ... JJ," she called. She heard a bathroom door unlock and one swung open. She found JJ sitting on the floor looking awful and tearful.

" I can't kill this baby..." she said. Garcia shook her head. " I need to tell Hotch..." Garcia nodded. JJ got up splashed water on her face and left the bathroom, followed by Garcia.

" You ok, JJ?" Morgan asked.

She nodded. " I just need to talk to Hotch."

" I'll be right out here," Garcia said. JJ smiled. She walked up the steps and knocked on Hotch's door.

" Come in."

She did. " Have a second?" He was routing through his bag.

" Sure, are you Ok?" he asked. It killed her that he was genuinely concerned.

She took a seat. " Hotch..." she began. While she was looking for the right words, she realised where they were, where was about to go and that the whole team was below, watching. She couldn't do it just yet. " I feel awful... I think I'm coming down with something. I think I should sit this case out."

" You have been a little off lately... If you get any better you can come down." He smiled at her. She smiled back, left the office and walked down to Garcia.

" You didn't tell him!" she accused.

" He is going to be in the field with a bomber... He needs to be at his best out there... Telling a guy he's knocked you up doesn't really do that," she said as they walked to Garcia's office.

For the two days the team was away, JJ spent most of it in her office or Garcia's, rehearsing what she would tell him. When she asked Garcia for advice about any of the speech, the reply she got was, " Just say it like a bandage... Quick and painful!"

When the team came back, the two greeted them. " Where's Hotch?" she asked.

" He went home... Jayj, you should have seen him... He tackled a guy who had a gun to someone's head on a VERY small roof. It was incredible... I've never seen him like that," Prentiss said. Then she leaned over and whispered, " It was very sexy!"

As JJ watched Emily, she felt a pang of guilt and jealousy. " Whoa, Em... Hold the elevator."

She and Garcia both hopped on the elevator with the other agent. " So... you're feeling better?" Emily asked.

" Not really... Kinda!" JJ decided to ask. " So, you know you called Hotch sexy back there, right?" Garcia looked at JJ.

" What you don't think so?"

She shot a look at Garcia. _Do I? I mean I slept with him... And I had feelings for him at one point... _" I don't know if I'd use sexy... I mean tall, dark, handsome... sure, but sexy..."

" Let me put it to you this way... would you sleep with him?"

JJ looked at Emily in shock. _Does she know? _Luckily before JJ could answer, the elevator doors swung open and she was out like a shot. " Where you going?" Garcia called.

" I need to talk to someone about something!" JJ replied.

Fifteen minutes later she was back where she had been three weeks ago when the accident happened. She hesitated before out of the car, going up to the door and knocking. _Please don't be up ... PLEASE DON'T BE- _

Her thought was interrupted when Hotch opened the door, wearing roughly the same thing he had been wearing three weeks ago. The look on his face was shock and something JJcouldn't place.

" JJ," he greeted, sounding confused. " Are you alright?"

JJ avoided making eye contact. " Can I come in?" she asked.

" Of course," he replied. He stepped aside to let her in. " Is everything OK?" he asked again.

After all the rehearsing she had done, JJ didn't know what to say. "Ahhh, am, am, uhh," she stuttered.

He grabbed her by the arms. " JJ..."

" No..." she said quickly. _Like a bandage... quick and painful! _

" No what?"

" No I'm not alright... Everything isn't OK!" She pulled herself away from his grip.

" What is it... Does it have to do with the lat time you were here?"

JJ nodded. " But it's not what you think... Trust me... I never thought this could happen!" She took a deep breath. " The other week... when we... you know... We didn't use anything," she stated.

" You don't have something do you?" he asked.

" NO... It's not like that... Ok this is the hardest thing I've ever had to say and I've had to tell a lot of families a lot of crap..."

Hotch smiled. " JJ, it can't be that bad. What could be worse then an STD?"

" A pregnancy." Hotch's face dropped. " I'm pregnant."


	5. Coping With the News

_Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant..._ The word went around his mind over and over again. _Pregnant. _

He didn't know how he did it, but Hotch somehow managed to make his way into the sitting room and sat down on the couch. JJ followed him, sitting across from him on the coffee table. " Howww...? Are you sure?"

" Two tests," JJ whispered, " one at home and one at the hospital."

" How long have you known for?"

" A week..."  
" A WEEK!" he shouted. He stood up and started pacing. JJ stood up too. " You didn't think to tell me when you found out... when you _thought _you were pregnant?"

" I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I was pregnant or when I found out!" she yelled back. " I was a little preoccupied with breaking my hole worrying! You're luck I even told you at all!! The thought of abortion _did _cross my mind!"

" ABORTION...? You were going to abort the baby?"

JJ folded her arms. " STOP YELLING AT ME!" she shouted.

Hotch took a deep breath. " Are you sure it's mine?"

JJ looked at him, hurt. " Do you really think that of me?"

" C'mon JJ... you had no problem flirting on the job!"

" Y'know what this all your FUCKING fault... You invited me into your FUCKING house... You got me drunk... You started FUCKING KISSING ME!!"

Hotch laughed. "You looked for a FUCKING reason to come to my house!"" God... it's no surprise Hayley left you... It probably had nothing to do with the job, she was probably just looking for an excuse!"

" Well I wouldn't be surprised if this baby wasn't mine!" Hotch yelled.

At that moment, JJ felt an excruciating pain and bent over, clutching her front. Hotch went to her side. " What is it?"

" My leg..." she said through tears. " What THE HELL DO YOU THINK?"

Hotch grabbed his keys of a table. "C'mon, I'll take you to the hospital!"

When they got there, a nurse gave JJ some pills. " The doctor will be here in a minute."

After another few minutes the doctor who had told JJ she was pregnant came. " Ms. Jareau..."

JJ and Hotch both began to stand. JJ looked at Hotch. " Don't even think about it!" she said.

" What?"

" I do not want you in there with me!"

" JJ!" But there was nothing he could do. He didn't want to hurt JJ and the baby.

As he waited he paced around the waiting room, missing Garcia as she came in. " Doctor Anders? Hi, I'm Penelope Garcia... I'm a friend of Jennifer Jareau's."

" Of course follow me!"

The doctor led Garcia to an examination room. " I was just about to draw some blood to make sure everything _is _OK."

"Jayj!" Penelope said walking into the room. She sat next to her friend. " What happened?"

JJ began crying. " I told him, Pen... I told him and he yelled at me for not telling him sooner and I yelled because he yelled and he practically asked me_ if it was his _and I blamed him for this and then he blamed me and I said that it's no surprise Hayley left him and she was probably just looking for an excuse and then he said that he wouldn't be surprised if this baby wasn't his and here I am..." She wiped away a few tears while the doctor took some blood. " I need to speak to him..."

" I'll get him for you!" the doctor offered.

Hotch was still waiting when the doctor came out. " How is she?" he asked.

" She, and the baby, should be fine... But stress isn't going to help..."

" What's that for?" he asked.

" Just to be safe... She wants to see you..." Hotch left and made his way to the exam room. He walked in as Garcia was helping JJ back into her jacket. " Hey," he said.

JJ looked at Garcia. " Can you give was a second?"

" Sure," she said. As she passed Hotch she said, " Sir."

It was quiet for a moment. " The doctor said everything should be fine..." JJ nodded. " I think we both overreacted a little tonight..."

" Tell me about it..." JJ smiled.

" Do you need a ride home?"

" No... Garcia said she would... Hotch... The thought of the abortion was pathetic... with or without you, I'm having this baby..." She looked at him. " I don't even know if I want you to be a part of this baby's life..."

Hotch hesitated for a second before saying, " I need to think!" JJ nodded. Hotch left the room closely followed by JJ. " Goodnight," he said.


	6. With Him there

**... WITH ME!**

Hotch woke up the next morning, with a felling of dread at the prospect of going to work. _Going to have to do it sooner or later, Aaron._ He had had a restless night, thinking about the decision he had to make whether or not to be with this kid, how easy it had been with Jack, about his own father... _You're NOT him. _He tried to reassure himself.

When he arrived at work, he headed straight to the office, not stopping to speak to anyone. He got to his office, closed the door and rested his head against it. He saw the picture of his son on his desk and smiled. _If I ever laid a finger on Jack, I'd kill myself,_ he said walking over to it and picking it up. _You're a good person, Aaron..._ Then he realised what he had to do. _YOU ARE NOT HIM! _He placed the picture down and hurried out of his office.

JJ and Garcia were in JJ's office discussing the night before when a knock came on the door, opened almost immediately and revealed Hotch. " Can I come in?" he asked.

JJ and Garcia glanced at each other and both stood. " Sure..."

" I need to talk to..." She smiled after thinking of someone. " Morgan."

JJ and Hotch were left alone. " I understand if-"

" Just hear me out," he said. She sat back down. He took a deep breath. " No one knows what I'm about to tell you... Hayley never knew the whole story... the only person who does is Sean... I never really knew my father. I was fifteen and he died of a heart attack and he had cancer. and I had no special memories of baseball games or learning to drive... I have no memories of him except when he was either drunk or hung over and which ever one it was, me, Sean or my mother were on the receiving end of a fist... Anything would set him off... a speck on a plate or not enough juice in the morning or if his food was burnt or if a book was left lying around even though we were coming back to it... he would lose it... I didn't want to be that way with Jack, which is why part of me wouldn't enjoy the pregnancy, why I try to spend time at work... Not that I did that purposely," he added quickly, " but... I know I am nothing like my father... and I missed out on a lot of the things Jack did growing up, but... if you'll let me... I won't miss a thing for this baby... Maybe it will have an older brother to look out for it like I did for Sean..." He headed for the door and stopped before opening. " The ball's in your court," he added and left.

**A/N: I know it's a bit short but I was on a roll**


	7. The Ultrasound

It had been a two weeks since Hotch had told JJ about his father and about wanting to be a part of the baby and she still didn't know if that was what she wanted. _The ball's in my court, _she thought. She thought about all the effects of having Hotch involved in the baby's life and about the people who would be affected by this... _But he's the father!_ she stressed to herself. _What if the baby wants to know the father... It's going to get out eventually... _

Then one morning JJ finally decided what she needed to do. She arrived at the office and walked straight for Hotch's office. She knocked on the door. " Come in..." he answered.

She did. He looked up and put down his pen. " I've been doing a lot of thinking... a lot, clearly... and I've decided that I want you there for it... It's your baby and you're it's father and you both deserve to know each other..." She threw a piece of paper down on the table. " I have an appointment today for an ultrasound... You should be there..." and she walked back out. Hotch picked up the piece of paper and looked at it.

JJ arrived at the waiting room and began reading a magazine. The nurse told her to go to the exam room and wait for the doctor. " Umm, the babies father might come... if he does can you send him in?"

" Of course," the nurse smiled and left. Soon after, there was a knock on the door and Hotch stepped inside.

" Did I miss anything?" he asked. JJ shook her head. " Are you heading back to the office afterward?" JJ nodded.

They stood in silence until JJ finally said, " I wasn't sure if you were actually gonna come..."

" A moments hesitation..."

" But there was definitely hesitation?"

The doctor walked in just at that moment. " Hi, there... You must be the baby's father?"

" Um, yes... Aaron Hotchner..." He extended his had which she took.

" Ok Jennifer... If you would just hop up on the bed and raise your top a little..." JJ did as she was told. The doctor put the gel on her stomach. " So is this your first baby.

" Yes," JJ said smiling.

At the exact same moment, Hotch said "No".

The doctor looked.

" I... have a son from, um... I was married previous to this."

" Ah..." JJ winced slightly. " You alright?"

" It's just cold..."

" Don't worry... you won't feel the chill for much longer... Have you decided whether or not to find out the sex of the baby?"

Hotch and JJ looked at each other. " Well, we haven't really discussed that..." JJ said.

" Your call," Hotch said. " I'm good either way..."

JJ looked at the doctor and shook her head. The doctor laughed. " I completely understand... You probably dreamt about this for years... judging pros and cons of both..."

" Hate to admit it but yes..."

" I know it's kinda early but, have you two decided on names?"

" No," JJ answered.

" There's still loads of time for that... Ahh, here it is... little baby thought it could hide from me..." She turned to Hotch. " You wanna better view?"

Hotch took a deep breath and moved to get a better look at the small screen as JJ turned her head to see.

And there it was. JJ could only barely make it out but she saw it. A smile came across Hotch' s face as he looked down at JJ. She smiled back, thankful for that little gesture, knowing that, although things would still be weird between them, it had gotten a tiny bit better...


	8. A Talk With Prentiss

**TALKING WITH PRENTISS**

JJ had taken a cab to the hospital so Hotch gave her a lift back. They had been making small talk, avoiding the subject of the baby and Hotch's past until after a long moment of silence JJ turned to Hotch. " Can you believe that was our **baby**?" Hotch smiled and nodded. " I'm serious, Hotch... at one point that was just one cell. I mean my mouth actually dropped when my science teacher told me that! It's going to get bigger and bigger and then it will become like us!" She looked at him for a long time, drumming her fingers on the dashboard. " What are you thinking?" she asked.

" Hm? Oh, I was just thinking when would be a good time to tell people. I mean we'll have to tell the team and our families and I'll have to tell Jack he's going to have a baby brother or sister.

JJ fell silent. " I haven't thought about it... " Hotch looked at JJ. JJ threw him a sideways glance. " I'll have to tell Will..."

" Who?" Hotch asked, pulling into a space at the car park and cut the engine.

" Will... La Montagne... From New Orleans? We worked a case with him last year... He was in Miami..." They got out and began walking. " We've been seeing each other," she told him, looking down.

" Ah... sorry."

It's not your fault, Hotch, stop apologising." They hopped onto the elevator, soon joined by Prentiss.

" Hey guys..." she said smiling, eyeing them.

" Hey... how was your lunch?" JJ asked

" Ok... yours?"

" Uneventful..." Hotch answered. The doors opened and Hotch got off the elevator. " Ladies."

" Bye..." JJ said.

" See ya, Hotch."

The girls walked to the breakroom and found Garcia. Prentiss kept her eyes out the door until JJ pulled her back. " Em... you alright?"

" Ohh, uh, yeah... Just keeping my eyes busy..." JJ looked out the door and saw that Emily had been watching Hotch talk to Rossi. She looked at Garcia.

" You have a thing for Hotch?" JJ said.

" Can you blame a girl?" she asked. " I mean, if I had pick my perfect guy... I'd have to say Hotch... He's compassionate about his work, he cares, he'd be able to take care of you-"

" You'd really be willing to wake up to him every morning... An older man?" " You really believe age matters?"

" No but..."

" JJ, he's a perfect guy!"

" Sex..." she said not thinking. " You'd need to be sure the sex is good!"

" She's right, Em... 'Course, you could just ask someone who's slept with him..." Garcia said.

" Or I could find out first hand..." she said with a mischievous smile on her face. She turned to leave.

" Where you going?" JJ asked.

" To see if I can find out first hand."

" Emily... you're gonna go ask him out?" JJ asked

" Kinda..."

" Emily... He has baggage," JJ said. " He has a wife, a son... I mean, yeah, he'd care about you but he could never love anyone more then he loves Jack."

" I love kids."

" So you only really like Hotch because there's your ready made family... cute guy with a kid?"

" What's your problem JJ? Why are you trying so hard to throw me off the idea of Hotch?"

Garcia noticed it too and remembered that today was the day of their first ultrasound. _Maybe Hotch went with her... Maybe..._ Without thinking Garcia blurted out, " Do you like Hotch?"

JJ was thrown off by the question. She needed a second to answer it. " Wh-... NO... That's wrong!"

" Yeah, he's too old with baggage... besides, she is madly in love with Will..." Emily said and left.

As she watched Emily walk up to Hotch, JJ was hit with a sudden pang of guilt in her stomach, that brought tears in her eyes. Morgan walked in and began talking with Garcia, giving JJ a chance for an uninterrupted getaway to the bathroom.

Unbeknownst to her, Hotch saw her and barely heard Prentiss saying, " My mothers in town for a few days and would love to see you again, maybe tonight?"

He kept his eyes on JJ until she was out of sight. " I'm sorry," he said, I'm busy tonight, some other time though..." and he left, heading for the bathroom, the room he hopped JJ would be in.

In the bathroom, JJ was sitting on the floor in one of the cubicles, resting her head on Garcia who had managed to get away from Morgan. They heard a door opening. " JJ," they heard Hotch say.

She looked at Garcia. " Yeah..." she said finally.

Hotch suddenly appeared in the cubicle door. " What is it... is everything OK?"

" Yeah..." She nodded. " I'll get over it."

" What is it?" Hotch asked, kneeling down next to the two girls.

JJ began crying again. " I just feel so guilty... I've as well as destroyed my relationship with Will... I've ruined your life..."

" No you haven't... It will get better I promise."

" He's right, kitten... You're just so early along... In a little bit, you'll realise this baby is the best thing to have ever happened to you... even if it means you lost Will... and if he really loves you, he'll get over it!"

" And if he can't, and he can't love this baby, then he won't deserve either of you!"

JJ smiled a little and let the tears subside." I'll get you a drink of water," Garcia offered and left.

Hotch and JJ were left alone. He stood up and helped her up. " Y'know, we have a lot of things to talk about... How 'bout we go out for drinks tonight and talk about them?" he asked, smiling, trying to cheer her up.

She splashed some water on her face. God, I want Garcia to get her ass back here, 'cause it's usually when I'm an emotional wreck that I really don't trust myself to be alone with you!"

Hotch chuckled. Garcia walked in. " Hey... she actually knows how to crack a joke," JJ playfully hit her. Garcia brought her into a big hug.

Hotch watched them for a few seconds. Then he said, " Y'know, we have a lot of things to talk about... How 'bout we go out for drinks tonight and talk about them?" he asked, smiling, trying to cheer her up.

" Uh... can she come?" JJ asked.

" Yes... it'll kinda concern you too... and since you're currently the only one to know about this baby, and when reality finally kicks in I think we'll be relying on you a lot..."

" Please, like you don't do that already!" she said.

The three walked out, Hotch heading to the bullpen and the girls to JJ's office.

Later that night Hotch walked into the bar to find JJ and Garcia already there. He walked to the bar, ordered a light Coke and asked if he could drop it down. He walked over to the two women.

" Hey..." they said.

" Hi, sorry I'm late..."

" Nope, we were just talking girl stuff..." Garcia replied.

" I had to run home and grab something." He reached into his pocket and took out a key ring with two keys on it and placed it on the table.

JJ looked at them. " What are these?"

" Keys to my place."

JJ eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

" Well, I want to make sure that nothing happens to you or this baby and I figured the best way to do that would be if you had a set. One for the back, the other for the front doors."

"Wow, place to party when he's out of town," Garcia said.

" Wow... Hotch, don't you want to, I don't know, slow things down a bit," JJ joked.

Hotch made an amused face and Garcia and JJ both started laughing.

As Emily Prentiss was listening to her mother say how nice it would be if she found a nice man and how Agent Hotchner would be perfect for her, she opened the door to a bar not far from the BAU, and walked in just in time to see Hotch, JJ and Garcia, all laughing.

**A/N:: I****'****m sorry to all Hotch/Prentiss fans but I don****'****t particularly like that couple. Love Hotch, just not him and Prentiss... but please keep reading!! :(**


	9. Starting the Announcements

JJ's face suddenly fell. It didn't go unnoticed by either Hotch or Garcia, neither of whom had seen Emily before she whispered something to the women JJ recognised as her mother and left. " You ok, kitten?" Garcia asked.

JJ smiled and nodded. She was having a good night and would deal with Prentiss tomorrow.

Garcia drove her home that night. When she walked work the next day, Morgan, Reid and Rossi kept asking her if she was ok, Hotch would throw her a reassuring smile and go back to being the boss, Garcia would crack some jokes and Emily just sat there, drumming her fingers on the table. JJ's eyes rested on her the longest. Then she turned to Hotch and said quietly, " Can we talk?" He nodded and led her up to his office. She could feel Emily's eyes burning on her back. She closed her and took a deep breath.

Hotch sat her down and took a seat next to her. " Is everything alright? Is the baby ok?" he asked.

JJ smiled at his concern. " Everything's fine, Hotch... It's just that after last night, I've been doing some thinking and... Maybe it's time we started spreading the word..."

Hotch froze. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. " If that's what you want..." She nodded. " I should probably tell Jack first..."

Again, she nodded. " Of course." She stood up. " It's going to come out sooner or later..."

" I know... I just didn't expect it so soon..."

" I know!" She left.

Emily wasn't at her desk, nor was she in the breakroom. JJ felt another urge to throw up and made her way to the bathroom. After throwing up, JJ unlocked the cubicle door but stopped when she heard Emily's voice. " She is the world's biggest bitch..."

JJ then heard another woman's voice. She recognised the woman from being from CSU. " She was really flirting with him?"

" Uh- huh... God, she knows exactly how I feel about him. I should have seen it when she was trying to throw me off him." Again the door swung open.

" You guys seen JJ?" she heard Garcia ask.

" Nope!" Prentiss replied. She heard the door close and then nothing. Not even any breathing besides hers. She slipped out of the cubicle, washed her hands and pushed back any tears that were forming in her eyes. She walked out of the bathroom. She met Garcia in the bullpen, waiting for her.

" Hey, where were you?" she asked as they walked to the round table room.

" Letting dislike for Emily take over my liking of her..." Garcia gave her a blank look. " I'll tell you later."

JJ sat in her office late that night and unfolded her pregnancy test and looked at it. She slowly picked up her phone and dialled a number. " Hey, it's me... No everything's fine... We need to talk... It's important..." She took a deep breath before continuing. " I'm pregnant."

Hotch was at his ex-sister in-laws house, in Jack's room. He had told Hayley he wouldn't wake him up but had to. Now Jack was sitting on his father's knee. " Jack... Umm... You know I love you, so much. But, um... Daddy made a very big mistake with a friend of his and, um, well now, me and my friend we're having a baby together, just like me and Mommy had you."

Jack looked sleepily up at his father. " So I'm gonna be a big brother?" he asked. " Like you?"

Hotch smiled. " Just like me."

" Is it a sister or a brother?" he asked.

" Well... We're not sure yet." Father and son were quiet for a long time. " You should get some sleep before your mom comes up, alright?"

Jack nodded his head and climbed into bed. Hotch tucked his son in and kissed his young son on the head before leaving him alone in the room.

**A/N: Next chapter contains spoilers for Lo-Fi.**


	10. Lofi

**LO-FI**

**This chapter contains spoilers for Lo-Fi. Some of the details may not be exactly what happened on the show.**

JJ was sitting in her office doing paperwork. Though the weather was fine for a November and she usually kept her office warm, she was wearing a large sweater, growing paranoid that her bump was about to show. Hotch stuck his head into her. " Can we get the team in the round table room ASAP? We have a case?"

" Nothing came by my desk?" she said, unsure.

" It came directly to me." He walked away from the office.

When JJ entered the conference room, everyone was already there.

" Don't get comfortable," Hotch began, " there'll be plenty of time to debrief on the plane.

" Where we headed?" Reid asked.

" New York."

" Five shootings in two weeks... It's about time we got the call," Rossi stated.

" I want to take Garcia with us; hopefully they'll give us access to their surveillance system."

" What do we know?" Emily asked.

" All the killings are midday. Single gunshot to the head with a .22."

" Any witnesses?" JJ asked.

" None."

" .22 calibre is only 1.50 decibels. It could be that people aren't even registering the gunshot until the unsub's already leaving the scene," Reid said.

" Sounds like mob hits," Morgan tried.

" Except none o them have any connection to organised crime."

" Do they have a connection to each other?" Emily asked.

" None they've found," Hotch explained.

" How about communicating with the police?"

Hotch showed them a clip of the latest murder. " Is that the best image the have?" JJ asked.

" He wears a hood... keeps his head down."

" This guy is bold... Crowded area in broad daylight," Prentiss stated.

" So they're completely random?" Rossi asked.

" It seems so, yes," Hotch answered.

" It's Son of Sam al over again," Reid thought aloud. The team were in silence taking it in.

As they disbanded, Hotch called JJ back. " This is dangerous JJ."

" Don't do that... don't keep me out of work because I'm pregnant."

Hotch didn't like the idea of JJ and his child being in a city with a killer who murders randomly, but he didn't have a choice. " Promise me you'll be safe."

" I promise." They both left the conference room, each heading to different offices

Hotch had just gotten all his packing sorted when his office door swung open and Hayley stood angrily in front of him. He looked at her for a while. " There's this thing, Hayley, you might want to familiarise yourself with... It's called knocking."

" Y'know, Aaron, since I have most custody over Jack, there's some things your gonna have to familiarize yourself with. Like clearing things with me before you tell Jack... for example, the fact that you've been screwing around."

Though he had been expecting that, he hadn't expected her to be so angry about it. " What's the big deal, Hayley? He deserved to know."

" But I could go on completely dumb... Have some bimbow raising my son when I'm not looking?"

" Keep your voice down..."

" Make me!"

" Hayley, keep your voice down or get out of my office..."

A knock came from the door and JJ walked in. " Oh... uh, sorry... I didn't realise you had... um, I'll come back..."  
" No... It's fine, we're done..." He looked at Hayley. " We're done. I have to work."

Hayley scoffed. " Nothing ever changes with you, does it, Aaron?" she asked, walking off.

JJ lingered in the doorway for a while, watching a stressed out Hotch. " Is everything alright?" she asked.

" I told Jack last night... Hayley found out. She wasn't exactly happy."  
JJ felt something rising in her core. " Out of love?"

" I don't know why.. But I really don't want to. You ready?"

" Yeah... um, Rossi and Spence already left, and Garcia's going with Morgan and Emily, so looks like it's just you and me."

" Let's get going then." JJ felt dread replacing her other feeling. Driving with Hotch like this was going to be hell.

When they reached the New York field office, JJ was taken aback by the appearance of SSA Kate Joyner. " Is it just me or does she look like Hayley?" she said to Garcia.

She heard Emily say to Garcia that they had liased together in Scotland Yard, and JJ had fully understood the meaning of that.

Later that night, as she, Emily, Hotch and Reid arrived at the hotel, Emily spotted a newspaper announcing the killings. Suddenly Reid noticed something. " Hey, JJ, look who's here."

JJ wondered who of importance to her and not the others could be in New York. Shock overcame her when she came face to face with Will. " Will!" she said, mimicking her feeling.

Emily greeted him with a smile and, Hotch being ever polite, shook his hand. " Det.," he said politely, but deep down, just as shocked as JJ.

" I'm sorry to just drop by like this, but I went to your office and they said you were here... ... I don't want you out in the field, JJ...not with everything that's been going on..."

" Is everything alright?" Reid asked.

JJ hesitated before turning to the others and shot Hotch a look. She smiled. " I'm pregnant."

Realization suddenly hit Hotch. She'd told him... but not everything. As Emily and Reid congratulated them, Hotch could only shake the man's hand. " We'll give you two some space."

" Hotch," he heard JJ call.

He turned around.

" JJ, you should have told me he know!"

" I know," she said nodding.

" He thinks the baby's his."

" I. Know… Hotch, he got so excited when I told him was pregnant. I didn't want to hurt him."

" Could it be his?"

" I'm usually on the pill when I go to see him… and we use protection… We didn't." She moved her finger to gesture both she and Hotch.

" Everything all right?" Will asked, as the three walked up to them.

Hotch smiled, though right now all he could think was that Will might be raising his child. " Everything's fine." He turned back to JJ. " We'll finish this discussion later." And that was the last time she saw him that night.

While she and Will were up in their room he asked her what she and Hotch had been talking about. She managed to dodge the question when a knock came at the door.

"I'll be right back."

She had expected to see Hotch or Reid standing outside the door. She certainly hadn't expected it to be Emily. She moved outside and closed the door slightly. " What?" she asked.

" What were you and Hotch talking about?"  
" Non of your business."

" He's the father, isn't he?"

JJ felt tired and weak. She had no strength to lie to Emily anymore. "How'd you figure it?"

"When I put two and two together I got five… You believing if you can't have him no one can. Then in the lobby, I put two and two and two together and I got six… Hotch is the father."

" It was a mistake that ended with major consequences."

" Why didn't you just tell me?"

" I was ashamed."

"Of what? Being a woman attracted to a very handsome man?" Emily saw the tiredness in her friend's eyes. " You look like hell. Get some rest and then we need some serious girl talk in the morning."

" You got it." Emily turned to leave. " Hey Em." Emily turned back. " Can you and Reid keep a lid on it for a while… Garcia's te only other one who knows…"

" Sure."

With that the two women went in to separate rooms.

The next morning, JJ explained everything to Emily, with Garcia's help. That evening, as JJ and Reid were preparing to leave, she got an envelope containing Will's badge.

" Reid, could you do this alone… There's something I need to do."

" Sure JJ."

She reached the hotel in record time. She found Will in the bar, flicking through a magazine.

" Will…"

" Sweetie."

" Will, you can't leave the force."

" JJ, I need to be in Virginia with you and our kid."

There was no way around it. She'd have to tell him. " Will…" _Hotch has a son. He has a wife. Will and I have nothing. Based on what happened yesterday there's every chance of reconciliation. I need Will. He needs me. He wants me. "_…you're the best."

He walked her to her car, not wanting to stop kissing her as they went. JJ felt pretty happy. However, a sad and confused Aaron Hotchner became even more so when his SUV blew up in front of him, flinging him into the air.


	11. Mayhem

**Mayhem**

**I haven****'****t seen Mayhem yet and am only working with what I read as a recap and from watching the promo.**

JJ waited sometime before leaving. She needed to think things through. She needed to talk to Hotch, she knew that. As she reached into her coat pocket for her cell, she remembered that she had left her cell in her bag back at the office. _Shit,_ she thought. She had just stared the car when she heard Will frantically calling her name. She rolled down the window, just as Will reached her.

"Will, what is it?"

"Garcia's been trying to call you on your cell."

"I forgot it at the office. What's wrong?"

" A car was blown up JJ. An SUV. She was so worried about you."

JJ's face fell. "Please, Will, not my team?"

Will appeared to not hear her. " So she called here and-"

"Will," she said, raising her voice, "did she say anything about my team?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie, I don't know, I'm sorry."

She buckled her seatbelt as Will climbed into the car. As she drove to the New York Field Office, Will tried calling each member of the team, unable to reach any of them. They arrived at the Field Office and pulled over by an officer. "I'm Agent Jareau with the BAU. Have you seen any of my team?"

"I'm sorry ma'am."

"Agent Hotchner? Agent Joyner?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Look, you need to get to the CIC center. It's at 700 Huston." JJ nodded slowly and the two made their way there, JJ worrying over which of her friends she'd lost: Not Garcia if she had called the hotel to tell JJ. She knew she'd be devastated if it was Reid or Morgan. They were two of her very best friends. It would be terrible if it were Prentiss, especially after they'd just fought. She knew she'd be upset if Rossi died, but unsure as to what extent, she moved onto the last and, in her eyes, most important member of the team: Aaron Hotchner. Their leader, the rock of the team. Instinctively placing her hand to her stomach and realized that she wouldn't know what to do if Hotch died. He was the first guy she had seen when she walked into the BAU. He'd made up and excuse for her when she had to vomit after seeing the crime scene photos. Losing Hotch would be so much worse then losing Gideon… And the baby wouldn't have its father. Now JJ felt like throwing up. Not only was she stupid enough for thinking she could fool everyone into believing this baby could be Will's. It wouldn't have worked. Nobody has even a quarter of the strength Hotch has. But she also felt sick for not realizing sooner how much she cared about Hotch. She'd been jealous when Emily had asked him out, when Hailey met him yesterday and when they'd met Kate. _It can__'__t be Hotch… God can__'__t be cruel. _

JJ had been so busy thinking that she hadn't realized that they had arrived at CIC. As soon as she entered the building, she recognized Prentiss immediately. "Em," she called. The three began walking.

" Thank god you're ok. We were worried when you weren't answering your phone."

They walked into a room where Rossi and Reid were talking to Garcia, looking over crime scene photos. " Oh, kitten, you're alright."

JJ knew the question she dreaded asking was inevitable. " Where Hotch and Morgan?"

Garcia looked uncomfortable. "Sweetie… Morgan… he's trying to get to Hotch."

JJ's head shot up. "Is Hotch…?"

Unaware of his colleagues positions, Rossi answered. " We don't know yet."

JJ fell onto one of the seats and pressed her hand to her stomach again, pushing back her sweater, revealing her slight bump. Rossi noticed it straight away.

JJ pulled herself together. "It's gonna be a long night…" She turned to Will. " Could you grab my bag from the Field Office?" He nodded. "I'll grab some coffees." She walked out.

"Will… I need you to go back to Virginia… Please?... I'll meet you back there…"

"I'll see you in Virginia, babe."

When she returned, Garcia was speaking. "Hotch is fine, Kate is critically injured. He's trying to stop her bleeding. Morgan's chasing the bomber."

"Guys the SUV is situated two blocks from the Federal Plaza," Reid stated.

Later that night, she and Reid were alone in the room. She was just getting off the phone. She remained quiet. "Are you alright?"

" I think so…Well, Homeland security has men at the eight crime scenes. They still haven't found anything… Reid?"

"Hm…" He was staring at the board. " Something's not right… The location of the SUV, doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, and they still haven't made good on their threat." She held up the tarot card

"Instead they targeted an SUV…" JJ's phone rang again.

"Yeah-"

It was Garcia. "Hotch is headed for the hospital… St. Barclay's."

"Thanks Garcia…" She hung up and turned to Reid. "I have to go… I'll call you later."

She arrived at the hospital in record time and walked into the hospital in time to see Hotch walking for a small metal cart but collapsing before reaching it. "Hotch!" she called as she and three other nurses rushed to him. A Doctor came out and carried him into an empty room. She was told to wait outside. She was alone for a long time with her thoughts when Morgan came in. "JJ, how's Hotch?"

"I don't know… I got here and he just collapsed. I thought you were after the suspect?"

Morgan hesitated. "He killed himself…"

Finally the doctor came out. "Is he alright?" JJ asked quickly, standing up.

"Your friend has acoustic trauma to his right ear… I got the shrapnel out of his leg… It should recover well… His hearing will need time."

"What about Agent Joyner…?" Morgan asked

"She's still in surgery."

"Oh son of a bitch…" they heard from Hotch's room.

"Thank you, Dr.," JJ said as she hurried into his room. Morgan followed. The entered the room in time to see Hotch, out of bed, pulling leads from his arms. He looked at the agents. "Where my clothes…?"

"Hotch, you should-"

"Morgan, where are my clothes?"

JJ and Morgan shared looks. JJ sat next to Hotch on the bed. "You're go bag's on the way… Kate Joyner's in surgery." Morgan left the room to make a phone call. JJ noted the look on Hotch's face. She thought he would be happy to hear those things. " What is it?"

He looked at her. "The profile's not right." When Morgan reentered the room he was carrying the bag. "I want everyone here now." He took the bag from Morgan.

"Already taken care of."

"We'll give you some privacy," JJ offered as he unzipped the bag.

Half an hour later, the rest of the team arrived. They regrouped in Hotch's room. He put on his flak vest. "Any developments?" he asked

Reid spoke. "Terrorist cells learn something from one attack to the next… All they could learn from planting one bomb at one target is how to attack one target effectively with one bomb."

JJ was barely paying attention, looking around the room. "Imagine what something as big as an oil drum could do," Morgan said.

As he stuffed his clothes into his bag, JJ noticed blood from his pants rubbing off against his shirt. _His blood,_ she thought, and touched her stomach, revealing her bump. _Their baby__'__s blood_. Suddenly she felt faint and made her way to the bed to steady herself. Hotch walked over to her and sat her down on it. "Thanks… I'm fine," she said.

Morgan took a step back. "Whoa, JJ… are you pregnant?"

JJ looked at Morgan and Rossi, the only two in the room who didn't know. Then she looked at Hotch. She nodded her head. Morgan and Rossi looked back and forth between their boss and their media liaison. "Hotch?" Rossi asked.

"Can you guys just keep it quiet for a while? There some loose ends I need to tie up."

"And we have a terrorist group to put behind bars for good," Hotch said. "A chemical engineer would be needed to make something like that."

"Their was a guy, 'The Demolition Man', treated each bomb as a work of art. Became infamous for it."

"I want to see it." The whole room went quiet.

"Are you-?" Emily began.

"Just set up your laptop." She did as she was told. Hotch watched, every so often only moving to wipe blood from his ear away from his face. "Did Sam call 911?"

"He dialed one number six times," Morgan answered, "to a disposable phone."

"If he didn't have to activate another bomb, why did he stay?" Hotch mused.

Rossi's eyes grew wide. "To make sure the ambulance got there."

"Damn," Hotch said quietly. He explained. "An ambulance with blaring sirens and lights can pass any roadblock. What if Sam called the 'paramedic' he could have placed the bomb in the ambulance… that I drove into the hospital where the Secret Service are protecting someone important."

The team led, by Hotch, approached the Secret service. " I'm SSA Hotchner… There's a bomb parked in the ambulance in the underground garage… Whoever you're protecting has to go NOW."

"That's not possible… they're in surgery… I have a visual on the bomber though…"

They all look at the screen. The bomber is holding a cell phone. Rossi quickly reached for his radio. "Garcia, we need you to shut down all cell service within the hospital grid."

"On it… Damn, I can only get it down for a few minutes…"

"Dave, he knows… he's headed back for the ambulance," Hotch said.

Without warning, Morgan took off in the direction of the ambulance. " Morgan," Emily called.

"Derek!" JJ said.

"He there… I can't see the bomber," Garcia informed them.

"We need to stop the bomber," Rossi said.

As the five agents moved out, Hotch grabbed JJ's arm. "Stay here."

JJ looked him straight in the eyes. "Hotch-"

"Please, JJ."

"Hotch," Rossi called.

JJ nodded and fell back. She grabbed her radio. "Garcia I want to know everything that happens."

"Morgan's on the move."

"To where?"

"Anywhere but near the hospital."

"He's in the ambulance, isn't he?" Garcia's silence confirmed it. "Oh god, Pen."

JJ listened as Garcia navigated Morgan through the streets of New York City. Suddenly Garcia stops. "Derek… Derek. Derek!"

"Garcia, what happened?"

"There was an explosion… The line's gone dead."

The two girls stayed on the line, in silence. JJ let herself sit on the ground. Suddenly, she heard Garcia laughing hysterically. "Oh, thank GOD, you're all right!... JJ, he's ok!"

Relief came over her, and tears fell down her face. She felt arms wrapped around her waist and when she opened her eyes again, she was resting against Hotch's chest. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. Hotch pulled her closer to him and kissed her back. Her head started swimming. She nearly lost him. As soon as they got back to Virginia, she was ending it with Will, telling him everything, especially her feelings for Hotch. He pulled away, keeping only their noses together, and pushed strands of hair that had fallen over JJ's face back with his thumb.

She could barely remember making her way back to the team. She was so exhausted; all she could hear was Hotch saying he had to do something and then Morgan saying he'd wait for him.

She slept soundly on the plane, her dreams enveloped with Hotch and their baby and what she hoped life had in store for them.

**A/N: Again, I haven****'****t seen Mayhem**

**Next chap contains spoilers for The Angel Maker. **

**I****'****ll try to post it whenever I can.**


	12. Baby Names

**BABY NAMES**

Over a month had passed since New York. JJ's bump was more visible now. Hotch hadn't been to work since but JJ knew he was planning on coming back next week. She needed to talk to him. She knew she shouldn't see him before she told Will the truth but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Everytime she tried, she immediately thought of his reaction anf freaked out and left the house. She turned to her friends during lunch.

"How do you tell the man you're engaged to that you're in love with another and carrying _his_ child?"

Her friends stared at her shocked. They were speechless. This was the first time she'd admitted to loving Hotch.

"You're gonna have to… You love him?" Emily asked.

"I don't know… It might just be the baby…"

"So everyone knows that the baby's Hotch's except for you're fiancé?" Garcia asked. JJ nodded. The two women looked at her and laughed. JJ soon joined in, feeling so good to laugh. "God, girl, you're in it now, huh?"

She looked at Emily. "Are you mad?"

Emily took her friend's hand. "Sweetie, of course not…"

"So when did happen?" Garcia asked.

"I kinda realized when Will told me there had been an explosion and we kissed."

"Well, I certainly hope you didn't get pregnant without kissing…" Garcia said slyly.

"In New York." Suddenly, JJ stood up. "Where are you going?"

She looked at her friends. "Hotch and I are having a baby… We have a lot to talk about."

JJ hesitated before knocking. Hotch answered. "Hi…" he hesitated. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we should talk."

"What about?"

"Our baby…"

He let her in. "Have a seat… I'll be right back."

She walked into the living room, took off her coat and placed it and her purse on the back of the couch and looked around. Boxes had been neatly stacked in the farthest corner of the room. Pictures of him and Jack were place on the mantle. There were none of him and Hailey. She looked at the couch and picked up his book. 'The Shining.' She smiled and heard him laugh. She looked up at him. He was leaning against the door frame, arms folded. "Take a seat." He moved over to her. "Here." He handed her a cup of hot water and lemon. "I didn't knew what to get you that didn't have caffine."

"It's fine…" She held up the book. "Haven't finished it yet, huh? It's been what… eleven…twelve weeks? C'mon, Hotch, speed up." She threw the book at him. He caught it.

They sat in silence. Then Hotch turned to her. "So Will has no idea?"

"I'm sorry… I just don't want to hurt him."

"You do want me to be part of the baby's life, right? I mean, we did say…"

"I do, I want you… I want you to be part of our lives, I just… I can't tell him… I can't, I don't know why. I just can't," she vented.

"It's ok, JJ, it's ok…" he comforted.

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Of course…"

JJ thought. "Do you ever think about it?"

"What…?"

"Sorry… Change."

"Sometimes… not really I guess."

"It terrifies me… When I found out I was pregnant, all I thought was that I'm gonna change so much. Not that I cheated, but that I wouldn't be able to work as much as before, or that I'd be getting bigger or that I'd be taking care of someone else, y'know… I'm gonna be a mom." She laughed at the last part.

"I know that feeling. Now-and when Hailey was pregnant- I silently freaked out. Then Hailey left and took Jack. Then Gideon… And I just fell apart… Not literally, I didn't do anything stupid, I drank a lot, but not to an extent." He laughed and looked at JJ's bump. "The only stupid thing I did when I got drunk was…" He stopped. JJ looked down into her cup.

"It terrifies me… Change… Sometimes all I want to do is curl up and let time stop…" She smiled. He nodded. She looked back up at him. "Have you spoken to him since he left… Gideon I mean?"

"No. Last time we spoke was when I got my suspension and I haven't heard from him since… Minus the letter he left Reid…"

"This might seem a little… girly… but do you miss him?"

He laughed. "Sometimes… We used to talk, he used to be my… go-to-guy."

"Wouldn't you talk to Morgan or Rossi… Reid?"

"Not really… Gideon was my mentor, taught me everything I know. Then we kinda became equals and it was easier to talk with him."

JJ was surprised. Se never saw Hotch talk like this. He never opened up to anyone on the team and now here they were, talking like old friends. _Who__'__d slept together, _she reminded herself. "Well, you have me if you ever need anyone to talk to."

"Thanks." JJ didn't know if she should mention what happened between them in New York. She had no idea of his feelings for her and she certainly had no idea what was happening between him and Hailey. "So, I invited you in under the impression we were going to talk baby stuff."

JJ eyed him hurt. "Thought you might like a friendly face," she said, jokingly.

"You're not all that friendly, Agent Jareau, I've seen you at work." JJ laughed. God, it felt good to laugh with him.

"Baby!" she urged.

"Ok, well, what do you want to talk bout?"

JJ threw up her hands in exasperation. "I don't know… You've done this before… What about my job?"

"Ah, no work… Please don't talk about work, not tonight… I don't want to talk about work until next week."

"Ok, then…names?"

"Ok… I can deal with names… I can help pick a name… Hotchner or Jareau?"

JJ's face fell. "Well, I thought it would be a little bit more fun… I don't know. You pick?"

"I really don't think that's how it works…"

"It would be a hell of a lot easier to talk about work…" she mumbled.

Hotch chuckled. Then looked at JJ "How about both?"

JJ looked horrified. "Oh, you are cruel… 'Name Jareau-Hotchner'… That's one freakin' long name."

He smiled. "How about…Hotchner ?"

"Oh, thanks…"

Soon Hotch became exasperated. Picking names with Jennifer Jareau was not an easy task. Then an idea hit him. "How about Jareau Hotchner by law, but, likes it's mama, it's initials and then Hotchner… Pick a first name… Anything that comes into your head."

"Bethany.."

His face fell. "Bad example… BJ Hotchner… I don't like it."

JJ stared at him and tears came into her eyes. "That's so sweet, Hotch."

Hotch wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey… JJ… It's just a name…"

She wiped her eyes. "I know, but it's the thought that counts…" She hit him. "You're laughing at me." Hotch couldn't help it. He thought seeing her like this was hilarious.

"I'm sorry, I am… It's just…are you always like this?"

"It's the hormones!"

"Sure it is."

She went to slap him again. Hotch was quick and grabbed her wrist. She looked at him and cleared her throat. "So far all we have is 'Jareau Hotchner' and if we don't move quickly, that's gonna be our babies name."

Hotch stood up. "I'm gonna grab a glass of water."

JJ knew he was uncomfortable. She was too. A thought hit her when he sat back down, she put it to him. "If it's a boy, how bout Jason?"

He smiled. "Jason Jareau Hotchner… J-" He stopped himself and they both knew why. 'JJ Hotchner' would be too weird.

"Why don't we cross all the J's off the list?"

"Sure… I like Gideon," he joked. JJ didn't see his face fall as he remembered the conversation with his ex-wife.

"'GJ Hotchner's' too hard to say."

"Danny?"

"'DJ Hotchner.' That's a cool name. Kid's gonna be popular."

"Hmm… I was never very popular in High School…"

JJ took a sip of her water. "Too busy collecting coins?" she asked.

Hotch looked straight ahead. "JJ, I really don't know how ticklish you are but I would love to find out first hand…" he threatened.

"Oh, sorry…" she said, moving away.

"Can we get back to this?"

"Girl's…?"

"Umm…

"Piper?"

Hotch made a face. "That sounds like a rock singer."

"I happen to like the name Piper… The only reason I'm agreeing we push it off is because I have a niece named Piper and I don't particularly like PJ."

"Lindsey?"

"Sister…"

Hotch changed the subject. "Does your family know?"

JJ giggled nervously. "They know I'm pregnant-"

"And they think it's Will's."

"Kinda." They sat in silence. _Why ruin it, Hotch? Why? _"OK, let's go through the alphabet with 'Js' at the end… Pen and paper… and laptop…"

"What?"

"I'm a very organized person…" He did as he was told. "Ok, tell me when you like one… 'AJ'…"

"I like that one…" She wrote it down.

By the end of the alphabet they had 'AJ', 'CJ', 'DJ', 'LJ', 'MJ', 'RJ', 'SJ' and 'TJ'. JJ grabbed the alphabet and started a search for 'baby names' and clicked on a website. She hit the link for the 'a''s. She positioned the laptop so that they could both see. " Addison… Alison… Abigail… Ashley… Anya… Annabelle…"

"Annabelle?"

"Uh-huh."

"I like Annabelle."

She looked at him. "You do?" she asked surprised.

"You don't?" he questioned.

"Well, yeah, but don't you want to go through all the letters before we decide?"

"Ok…" But the name stuck with him.

"Cindi?" He shook his head. "Danielle?" No. "Lilly?" Nope. "Maggie?" Uh-huh. "Rachel?" He has a friend Rachel he's not particularly fond of. "Sarah?" Didn't hit him. "Tessa?" He didn't like the name. Annabelle just stuck with him. "Why?"

"I just like the name. Look, if you don't want to name the baby Annabelle if it's a girl, then we can find something else…"

"I like Annabelle, it's just a name never stuck with me enough to shoot down every other name we came across." JJ's phone rang. "Hi…damn, is that the time… Yeah I know… I had lunch with Garcia and Em and thought I'd visit Hotch…" She took a deep breath. "I'll be home soon…" She hung up. "That was Will… I forgot to call and tell him I'd be late… he thought I'd just been gone to lunch with the girls… I should go…"

She grabbed her coat and purse. "So, um… Let's sleep on the names and we'll talk later… Ok…"

"Yeah… JJ?" She turned to him. "Thanks for stopping by."

She smiled at him. "I'm glad I did… I had fun. Bye."

"Bye," he said, just as she closed the door.

**I have a chapter in mind for it so expect at **_**least **_**3 more chaps this week!!! Thanks for reading!!!!!!!! xOoXOx**


	13. The Call

THE CALL

**THE CALL**

**This was inspired by Regina Spektor****'****s The Call. I hop you enjoy.**

JJ sat on her bed, brushing her hair. She was thinking about the names she and Hotch were thinking about. Being honest to herself, Annabelle was growing on her. She decided for a second opinion.

Will walked into the room holding a piece of paper. "What's this… baby names?" JJ nodded. "What's with AJ and CJ and DJ…?"

"Well…" _Think, girl, think. _" I thought that on the birth certificate it would be hyphenated but everyday it would be initials, AJ, CJ… Would do you think of Annabelle for a girl and Danny if it's a boy? AJ and DJ…?"

"Well, sweetheart, I kinda wanted to talk to you bout names… I was kinda hoping my daughter would be named after my ma and my son after me."

JJ smirked. "William Jr. Jr.?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Will looked at her. Fear rose inside of JJ. He never looked angry at her. She moved away from him. "Will Jr.'s cute… We should get to bed." She crawled under the covers and turned out the lights.

She couldn't sleep. Her mind was racing. _Will I ever be able to tell him? Would he really hit me? Will Hotch be raising my child or Will? Would Will hit me with the baby? If he did even think about it, would Hotch protect me? Of course he would, but should I stay with Will to protect me, Hotch and our baby?_

Then her thoughts turned to Hotch just as Regina Spektor's _The Call_ came on the .

_It started out as a feeling  
Which then grew into a hope  
Which then turned into a quiet thought  
Which then turned into a quiet word_

When JJ first met him, she had certainly felt something. Hadn't been huge, just a pinch, but when she found out he was married, it felt like her heart was being ripped out.

Then she'd found out about the divorce. The thought of being with him, the possibility of it, had been with her mind so much. She even told Garcia, hoping her friend would give her courage and strength to make the move, but smart Garcia pointed out that he was only giving Hailey what she wanted.

_And then that word grew louder and louder  
Till it was a battle cry  
I'll come back when you call me  
No need to say goodbye_

But the night they came back from South Carolina, JJ couldn't hold her urges back anymore. She needed him and, when they were together, she felt his need for her. _Will we always be there for each other? He listens when I need to talk and now he__'__s opening up to me… I can__'__t just walk away from him, take his child._

_Just because everything's changing  
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before  
All you can do is try to know  
who your friends are _

_As you head off to the war_

_I used to love Hotch… did it change… was it just hidden? I need to know if Will would hurt us or if he loves me enough to let it unfold… _JJ soon fell asleep with these thoughts in her head.

A week later Hotch returned to work. It felt so good to have him back. Though it was awkward at first with the team, just his presence gave JJ strength. It gave her the strength to go home and wait in the living room for Will to come home. She was going to tell him. She had left him several texts telling him it was urgent.

Soon the door opened. Will stumbled in. JJ knew he had been drinking, she didn't want him to find out like this. "Babe… What's wrong?" he asked sitting next to her.

"Will… Will, you're drunk… Sleep it off, we'll talk in the morning…"

"Hey… I just left… a bitchin' night, 'cause you… you wanted me to come home… Now, what's wrong?"

_Now or never…_

"I'm pregnant…"

"Just realize that, babe?" He laughed. "I called you babe… We're talking about our babe…"

"It's not ours, Will…"

Will stopped laughing. "What?" he asked, stepping closer to her.

JJ saw in his eyes what she had seen a week ago: anger. "Will… we can talk in the morning."

She turned to leave but Will grabbed her arm. "No… we're gonna stay and talk about this… You cheated on me?"

"It was an accident…"

"When, JJ?"

"Will… About four months ago… I got drunk and he got drunk and… It was an accident, Will, I promise…"

"But was it a mistake JJ?" She knew she couldn't tell him the truth; that it was Hotch… that she was in love with him and that it was anything but a mistake… It was the best night of her life. The night she'd always dreamed of and a night she couldn't receive from anyone else.

One problem: She couldn't lie to him either. And he knew that.

Suddenly, Will raised his arm…..

**Sorry for the way that ended… Try not to make you wait too long !!! =D**


	14. The Angel Maker

**THE ANGEL MAKER**

Jennifer Jareau woke in the safe warm bed Penelope Garcia had lent her for the night. Soon after she woke, her cell phone rang. She knew it wasn't work. And she was right: Will LaMontagne.

JJ answered the phone then immediately hung up, tossing it aside. She placed her elbows between her legs and rested her head in her palms. She pulled back when she felt a sharp pain through her head. She stopped and remembered what happened last night. Will rose his hand and hit her straight in the face. She managed to get past him, grabbing her handbag and coat as she ran.. She must have made her way to Garcia's.

She didn't know if it was morning sickness or disgust that she had been so wrong about Will that made her nauseous, but she knew she had to get to the bathroom. Fast.

She arrived five minutes later in the kitchen and found Garcia reading the paper. "Don't worry, kitten. If it wasn't the morning sickness that got you it was a mix…" She looked up and smiled. "You might want to cover that shiner before we go to work, though."

"I was hoping I'd dreamt last night… So the baby's ok?"

Garcia nodded. "We went as soon as you arrived here… I called Em… She'll be over soon with some of your stuff." JJ looked down. "Go, have a shower." JJ did as she was told. When she got out she found concealer, a robe and a bag on the floor. She quickly covered her bruise and got dressed. The baby was growing rapidly. She'd have to get new clothes as soon as she could.

When she went back out to the living room, Emily and Garcia were still there. "Hey, Sweetie, how're you doing?"

She just shrugged. They made there way to the office and grabbed the case she was going to present to the team. He phone rang again. Her heart jumped when she read the name of her caller: Aaron Hotchner. She answered as soon as she could. "Hello?" JJ answered.

"Hey…It's me… Is there a case?"

"Yeah… I was just waiting for you to come in to present it to the team."

"Don't. There's something I need to do… I'll meet you at the plane, kay?"

"Ok…" They hung up. She figured she wouldn't tell him about Will unless she had to.

Hotch had an appointment. Before he went into the MRI, he rang JJ and could hear something was wrong in her voice. H had to push her out of his head when the doctor came into the room.

"Agent Hotchner… How are you today?" she asked politely.

"Better… in fact the buzzing doesn't bother me that much…it's the recurring pain that's the problem."

"You're suffering from hyperacusis. You have a small tear in your right eardrum. Although the condition may heal itself in a few weeks, sometimes the damage is permanent." She hesitated. "You can return to the field due to your acute sensitivity to sound.

He stood. "I'll take it easy…limit my field work."

"You might wanna stay out of loud places." He nodded. His phone rings started to ring but he continued to put on his jacket. His doctor looks at him. "You gonna answer that?" He stares up at her, then reaches for his phone.

JJ had the whole team rounded up in the conference room in minutes and began briefing the team about the murder and rape of Delilah Grennan.

"It looks like a ritual," noted Pretntiss.

JJ took a deep breath. "The puncture wounds on the victim's body were administered post-mortem."

"Are there any other victims?" Prentiss asked.

"It looks like serial killings that occurred in the same town 10 years previously performed in exactly the same way by a killer called 'The Angel Maker.' He had been put to death by lethal injection one year ago yesterday – one year to the day before Delilah Grennan's murder."

"If we're dealing with a copycat who is "honoring" this killer's MO, will the local police be able to match the DNA found in the semen with another offender," Reid asked.

"Already done… it matches that of Cortland Bryce Ryan, The Angel Maker." The room was in shock. "Plane leaves in thirty minutes."

"Hotch meeting us at there?" Rossi asked.

"I think so."

JJ was one of the last to leave. She was on her way to the conference room to pick up a file and saw Hotch in his office. She knocked on the door. He didn't answer. She walked in anyway. "Hi…"

He looked up and smiled. "Hi… What are you still doing here?"

"Had some stuff to do be fore we left and-" She stopped mid-sentence, clutching her stomach. Tears of fear came to her eyes. _If that son of a bitch hurt my baby last night I ,will kill him! _She bent over. "Oh my god…" she gasped.

"JJ, what is it?" He hurried over to her.

"It hurts," she said and let her tears flow freely. "Please don't let anything be wrong, please don't let anything be wrong…" she whispered.

Hotch placed his hand on her stomach. He knew what was wrong. "Has this ever happened before?"

"No!" she said through her tears.

"JJ, it's ok…It's kicking…"

Her head shot up. "What?" He nodded and smiled.

"JJ, our baby is kicking for the first time."

She smiled. "Wow… Is it supposed to hurt this much?"

He nodded. "You'll get used to it." He looked at her questioningly. "Why would something be wrong with the baby?"

JJ looked away from him. "I guess I'm just being paranoid…" she smiled. His smile grew. _Not yet… I'll go to the doctor in Ohio and just make sure everything's good… No matter the outcome, I'll tell him…_

"Need a lift to the airstrip?" he asked.

"Well, I was gonna drive myself, but it might be safer if you drove right now."

They arrived at the plane just before it was scheduled to take off. As Emily, Reid, Morgan, Hotch and Rossi were talking, JJ sat away from the rest of the group and just stared at him. It felt so good to have him back. She took everything about him in. His hair, his eyes, his hands.

Meanwhile, the team spoke about the case. "All of the Angel Maker's victims have been beaten with the killer's bare hands, yet Delilah Grennan was bludgeoned with something like a hammer. This unsub is weaker than the Angel Maker and probably brought the hammer along to subdue the victim easily."

Rossi interrupts. "I'm sorry but could we please discuss the fact that the new unsub had the dead Angel Maker's DNA."

"Maybe this killer planted the DNA "in" the victim," Morgan mused.

"Twins share DNA," Reid stated, "maybe we're dealing with Angel Maker's "eviler" twin." Morgan, Prentiss and Rossi just stare at Reid.

Pain rushes through Hotch and he leans over, eyes squinted against the stabbing pain caused by the flight and his condition.

Morgan leans over to him. "Hotch… Are you good to fly? I mean… You have been cleared to right?"

"Of course," he replied, leaning back against his seat.

Morgan looked and caught JJ's eyes. She smiled. _Would he really risk his hearing for his job? _She questioned, looking away.

As she stared at him, she constantly asked herself why he would pick her over Hailey and she couldn't find an answer. _Maybe he wouldn__'__t…_

On the way to the awaiting cars, Morgan caught up with JJ. " Were you staring at Hotch on the plane?" he asked, teasingly.

She turned to him. "Is his ear ok?" she challeneged.

His face became serious. "Why don't you ask him? He might tell you more of the truth then he'd tell me." JJ tried to walk away. "Whoa… JJ… seriously… When are you two gonna get your acts together and just… get together?"

"Hmmm… you know what Morgan, next time you ask him about his ear, do me a favour and ask him how he feels about his wife."

She walked to the awaiting car. Se had told Emily that she was going to the hospital and asked her to tell everyone she was just going to the hotel.

As she sat on the gurney, she anxiously awaited the doctor's results. Finally she was given them. "That is one healthy baby…" She smiled. "However, you might want to do something about it's father… Next time you two might not be so lucky."

"Wh… no… um… the baby's father didn't hit me, it was my boyfriend… The father would NEVER hit me."

"Well, get rid of that boyfriend… Have you told the father about what he did?"

"Um… no but I was gonna… The baby started kicking and I freaked out and he kinda nearly found out." Her phone rang. " Sorry…" She answered it. "Jareau… Yeah… Ok, thank you for contacting me… I'll tell me team…" She quickly hung up and grabbed her stuff. "Thank you doctor…" She stood.

"Anytime… You might want to take things easy… That kids gonna be one hell of a kicker…"

JJ smiled and left. Remembering her job, she grabbed her cell and dialed Morgan. "Derek, it's JJ… Listen I just got a call…a local newspaper received a letter from someone claiming to be the Angel Maker… Yeah… can you let everyone else know…? I'll be at the PD." She hung up.

When she arrived, Reid and Hotch were already looking at a copy of the letter and comparing it with copies of previous notes from the Angel Maker.

"What is it?"

"Well, at first glance, the letter shares some characteristics with the old correspondence…" Reid said. He looked up. "It may be authentic… OR it could be a forgery or a genuine letter sent before his death."

A woman enters the room. " Sela," the sheriff greeted, going over to meet her. "This is my wife… These are the FBI: Agents Reid, Hotchner and Jareau."

"Is the letter form him?" she questions.

"No, darling… It isn't from the same man…"

"It could just be from a friend," Hotchner asked.

"The entire town knows there were problems with the execution… What if he's still out there?" she pleads. She gestures to the window, and the small group notices that many people from the town have assembled outside the station for answers. "They want proof that he's dead." The FBI agents look at each other.

Later that night, Sheriff Dobson, Hotchner and JJ meet Rossi and Morgan at the gravesite

"Don't do an exhumation of the body. If you do you will only be helping the copycat perpetuate the Angel Maker's myth," Hotchner tries.

"I'm sorry… Look, me and Sela, we met over this case… she lost her only daughter to that sick bastard."

He makes a gesture. Suddenly, two front-end loaders start up, noisily lifting their shovels to bring the coffin out of the ground. Hotch clamped his hand over his right ear, trying to withstand the pain that the loud noise brought on. He stumbled away from the gravesite, followed by JJ.

"Hotch… Are you ok?" He barely heard her words of concern through the piercing shriek in his ears. "Hotch… here, let me help you back to the car… May be if you sit for a while…"

"JJ, I'm fine… Really." The machines quiet down. He looked down at her and smiled. " C'mon." They approached the sheriff, the two other agents and the plain wooden box. The five people look inside. "Oh my god…" JJ gasped. The coffin was empty.

While the three men went to see the physician who was present at the execution, Dr. Hagen, JJ made her way back to the PD with Sheriff Dobson. There she met Reid and Emily.

"Hey… you guys hear?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Emily asked.

"There was no body in the coffin…" The two agents looked at her in shock. " Yeah, Hotch, Rossi and Morgan are talking to Doctor Hagen.."

"Wow…"

"Yeah, I'm gonna call it a-" She stopped.

"What is it?" Reid asked as he and Emily approached their friend.

"The baby's kicking," she laughed.

"Oh my god… can we…?"

"Yeah." She grabbed their hands and placed them on her stomach. Suddenly, Reid looked up, shocked, and Emily jumped back.

"That's freaky…"

JJ's phone rang. She looked at it: Will. She smiled at her friends. "I'm gonna go back to the hotel, Ok? I'll see ya…"

"'Night."

The next day, after waking up late, JJ arrived at the sheriff's office to find the team assembled, just about to give the profile.

"First, you should all know that the unsub is a woman. Sid Ruttledge had smuggled items out of prison and sold them to the highest bidder – and one of his best customers was the copycat. She killed him because he knew her identity and because he was blackmailing her. After going through Ruttledge's record, we found out he was transferred out of a female prison for trading sex for favors… We believe he had tried the same thing with the unsub," Hotch began. "The gunshots to the groin were personal, but the open bottle of Viagra on the sink tells us specifically that the unsub is a woman… She is probably a white female in her mid-thirties…Attractive, well-educated, successful. She suffers from hybristophilia, a sexual attraction to men who commit violent crimes. She is using an instrument to simulate sexual assault and keeps that and the murder weapon in her "rape kit."

A fax machine beeps. JJ gets to it first. "It's a list of possible groupies from the Angel Maker's visitor logs," she announces.

"It's extensive… we'll need the officers' help," Emily said.

That night, JJ, Reid, Hotch and Rossi were sitting around the table when Emily and Morgan come in. The three leave, leaving Reid to continue working on the notes. Emily brought up a constellation on the computer. "There's a grouping of stars… The same pattern as the puncture wounds on Maxine Chan's stomach. "They belong to a group known as the 'heavenly waters'." The Angel Maker would open the windows after his kills to allow the women's souls to escape into heaven. Some of the constellations are named after animals… animals that Ryan made into origami sculptures. There are nine constellations in this family: the Angel Maker killed six women, his copycat two… There's only one left. The Dove.

Standing nearby, Reid worked on the cipher he found in Ryan's letters on a large white board. "Ryan and his 'dove' were in love," he announces, turning to the other agents. "I was able to crack the code by profiling Ryan. He was on death row with a number of men from the Aryan Brotherhood. This like to use a cipher based on a binary code written by Sir Francis Bacon. I was able to crack the code, using complex calculations that most people would run on a computer, Using the sampling of letters they had written between Ryan to his "dove," he and the woman first saw each other during Ryan's trial. Their letters are very personal. Ryan's refer to her as his "secret wife" and her yearning for one touch of his hand. 'Take heart, my love, I will bring a part of you back into the world," she wrote, "and forever you will watch over us from the stars.'"

"Maybe they had a kid together. She might have used the semen samples to get pregnant," JJ suggested.

"We might be able to track her down…" Reid thought.

Their speculations were interrupted by Sheriff Dobson. "A woman called 9-1-1 claiming to have been attacked in her home. She's fine, but her neighbors heard her cries and subdued the woman who had been attacking her.

"We'll head over there…"

"I'll call Garcia…"

As the team leaves her, Reid and the sheriff alone, she reaches for her phone

"Hey gorgeous… Way to keep things from me… How could you not tell me the baby started kicking?"

"I'm sorry sweetie… I had no idea it was happening until Hotch said it… Anyway, can we get back to work?"

"Sure."

"Ok, so we think the killer might have kid from the Angel Maker… One of the letters mentions something "taking root,". It's dated January 7, 2007.

"Ok… so I'll check for birth dates approximately 10 months later listing only single mothers… nine names."

"Can you send them over. Thanks." She hung up.

She went over the list with Dobson and Reid, some of the women eliminated immediately. Suddenly, one woman's name hit the sheriff and Reid. Reid grabbed a file. "Chloe Kelcher had been on the jury at Ryan's trial… Y'know, she might have been a fan of the killer from the beginning of the trial, but I think the incident that turned Chloe into a killer was probably her baby's death shortly after its birth."

The three met the rest of the team at Chloe Kelcher's home. It was empty when the agents broke in.

"We know that Chloe is looking for a final victim. She may have already found one. Tear this place part until you find a clue. Understood?" Hotch ordered.

They looked everywhere for anything that might lead them to her victim.

Morgan found a nursery down the hall with an empty crib and stars glued to the ceiling. In a wooden chest nearby is Cortland Ryan.

Rossi found her appointment book, showing meetings with both of the previous victims on the days of their murders. "Faye Landreaux." He tells Morgan.

When they arrived at Faye's home, the agents found Chloe's car and the engine still warm, the windows closed in the victim's home.

"Faye is probably still alive," Reid stated

"We can't want to break in… Chloe is almost certainly armed and might kill Faye…" Hotch says. "Morgan look for an open window," he turns to the sheriff, "move all of your cruisers to face the house.

JJ watches as Morgan approaches an open window. She joined the agents around the parked police cars.

"Hotch, trying to reason with Chloe might not be the right thing to do…" Prentiss began.

"She's right," Reid agreed, "If the profile is right, she won't surrender."

Hotchner hands the large mic to Prentiss. "We need to keep her talking long enough for Morgan to get Faye out of danger."Suddenly, all the headlights of the cruisers were switched on. Emily's voice sounds clearly in the still night air. "Chloe… Chloe you weren't special to Ryan. The things he wrote to you… he wrote to so many other women."

Reid hurries, scribbling some of the exact lines from the Angel Maker's letters on his notepad and holds it up for Prentiss to read. Emily reads what he has written.

JJ sees her through a window, holding a gun. Moments later, Morgan is out of the house with Faye. Reid and Rossi rush over to them with a medic.

Finally, Emily makes a final statement: "You have nowhere to go.""We won't need teargas… Chloe will not kill herself – she is not finished," Hotch said to the sheriff.

A moment later the door opened and Chloe stepped outside, her gun held at her side, her face reflecting the flashing lights of the police cars and her own stubborn determination.

She looks up to the night sky and raises her gun.

The sheriff, standing next to Hotch, shoots first. The explosion of the gunfire is right by his ear, sending Hotch to the ground in pain. JJ rushes over to Hotch, and watches as Emily and the sheriff approach the body and pull up Chloe's shirt to reveal deep puncture wounds. She had finished the Angel Maker's work after all.

"It's ok," she whispered to Hotch, brushing hair from his eyes and forehead. "Just breathe… just breathe through it. It's gonna be fine… You're gonna be fine." He reached up and grabbed her hand, gently squeezing it to let out his pain.

He is soon able to stand and JJ leads him to the car, handing him a bottle of water.

Outside the sheriff's office the next day, Sela walks up to Hotch. "Here," she said, handing him a plate of cookies,"for the flight back to Virginia. "

"I'm sorry you had to relive her loss."

"Maybe now I can get over it…"

Over by the car, JJ, Prentiss, Morgan and Reid are talking about the directions to the airfield. " Anyone need directions?" JJ asked.

"JJ, it's a one way street in and out of this place… How hard can it be?" Morgan asked back.

"And besides," Emily says, "Morgan hates taking directions."

"Yeah," Reid agrees. "He likes to 'vibe' it." The four laugh.

Hotch walks up to them. He hands Emily the plate of cookies. "From Sela Dobson, for the flight home."

He goes to the back of the SUV and grabs his bag. "I really shouldn't be flying. I'll, uh… I'll take a car, drive back."

As the men talk, JJ too hesitates before getting into the car. She notices Emily, Reid and Morgan watching her. Emily makes a head gesture. JJ reads it right and heads toward them.

Rossi stops before hopping into the car and eyes Hotchner sensitively. " You know, the country is so beautiful between Ohio and Quantico, You might wanna stretch the trip out a bit.

Hotchner smiles and shakes his hand. "Maybe I will, thanks."

"Hotch… you want some company…? The road can be kinda lonely and we kinda need to talk," she asked.

Hotch eyes her curiously. "I'd love some."

She hurried back to the SUV and grabs her bag from the boot. They stand for a while, watching as their team drives off and soon, hop into their own car.

**Can someone please let me know if I****'****m using my tenses right… It kinda felt weird when I was writing cuse, again, I was getting some help from . Thanks.**


	15. Road Trip

**Road Trip**

_God… This is the LIFE! _JJ thought. She and Hotch had been on the road for an hour, making polite small talk. The sun was shining and all the windows were rolled down, allowing the wind to freely blow through the car. JJ had let her hair down, letting it blow all over her face. She had never felt so free. She hadn't felt so relaxed since before the pregnancy.

It was getting late. Hotch wanted to keep going and be back home as soon as they could. She convinced him to pull into a hotel in the next town. Not only did she want a chance to talk with Hotch, but she was terrified that Will would be waiting in her office for her. Then he'd see JJ with Hotch and realize he was the father. She saw him hit her, then he and Hotch would get into a fight and Will would get hold of Hotch's gun and shot, hitting him right in his heart. Then he'd aim at JJ and kill her and the baby, leaving mother, father and child together for eternity.

"JJ?" Hotch asked.

She looked around. They were getting close to the next town. "I'm sorry? Did you say something?" She tucked a hair behind her ear, knowing it was no good. It would get blown out again.

"I asked if you were sure you didn't want to keep going?"

"I'd feel a lot better throwing up in the morning in an actual bathroom rather than the side of the road Hotch."

He chuckled. "Right… sorry." JJ watched as he never took his eyes off the road. Minutes passed in silence, JJ trying to figure out how to tell him what Will did, how to ask him-

"JJ?" he repeated.

She looked at him. "What?"

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I just have a lot on my mind… Don't you?"

"Of course… I hate to put more on your mind but have you thought anymore about Annabelle?"

"Actually I have… It's great… The more I thought about Annabelle Jareau Hotchner, the more adorable it became…"

"Really?" She nodded her head. "So… Annabelle or Danny Jareau Hotchner."

"AJ or DJ Hotchner…" She looked down at her hands and laughed. " Will wanted his mother's name if it's a girl and his if it's a boy…"

"So… William Jr. Jr.?" he asked laughing. JJ smiled too but it faded and was replaced with tears. She looked out the window. Hotch glanced at her. "Sorry… That was inappropriate."

"No, it's not that… It's…" she began, debating whether she should tell him.

"What, JJ? What is it?" he asked, taking her hand.

"I said the same thing… and he got kinda angry…"

Hotch's grip tightened. "How angry?" he asked.

"He didn't hit me…" she answered truthfully.

"But he was very angry…"

There was a moments silence again. "But, um… I told him… That the baby wasn't his…"

"How'd he take that?"

"He was drunk when I'd told him. I didn't tell him it was yoju… He asked me when… I told him it was an accident. He wanted to know if it was a mistake… I told him it wasn't." She looked at him. "_Then _he hit me."

He suddenly pulled onto the side of the road. _"What!?" _he asked, looking at her. He looked at her bump.

"The baby's fine… I left him and went to Garcia and she brought me to the hospital.

"When the baby started kicking, you thought something was wrong, didn't you?" She nodded. "He's the reason you don't want to head back tonight?"

"I have this image in my head… He's in my office and you get into a fight and he grabs your gun and kills the three of us… It's stupid, but it terrifies me…"

He took her face in his hands. "JJ… He could never hurt us…" He wiped away a tear. "I won't let him."

"Hotch… I know this is probably asking a lot but… Could I stay with you for a few nights…? At least until this whole mess is cleared up?" she asked.

He turned and started the car again. "Stay for as long as you need."

"Thank you."

Several uncomfortable moments passed. "Can we please talk about something?"

He smiled gently. "What do you wanna talk about?"

She wanted him to open up to her again. "It's not exactly what _I want _to talk about… More what _you need _to talk about…"He looked at her confused. " I know it's not the same, but last year.. You remember that case in Georgia, Reid got abducted and I got attacked by dogs? I didn't sleep for days after that… I was traumatised… All I could see was Reid and those dogs… The only point I did manage to finally get some sleep was when I talk about it…"

He took a deep breath. "I had an appointment the other day… That's why I was late… It was for my ear."

"Is everything ok?" she asked, her concern genuine.

"I have… hyperacusis… It's a small tear in my eardrum. It should get better in a few weeks… It could be permanent."

"Hotch… I'm sorry… Wow, this really isn't you year, is it?"

"A divorce, loss of my son, a friend… two friends… and I might lose my hearing." He chuckled.

JJ looked at him. Better bite the bullet. "Are you and Haley getting back together?" she asked before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth with her hands.

"What?" he asked looking back at her.

"Nothing… forget I said anything, it's none of my business…"

They dropped the subject.

"It's getting dark," Hotch said.

"The next town should be about fifteen minutes away."

"Perfect…" They drove in silence the rest of the way there.

When they got to the reception desk and learnt the prices of room per night, they decided to get one room with two double beds. JJ wasn't looking forward to it.

While Hotch lay in bed reading, JJ was brushing her hair. Hotch looked at her. Just as she was climbing under the covers, he spoke. "We're not."

"What?" JJ looked back at him.

"Haley and I… we're not getting back together…I doubt she'd take me back even if I wanted to."

"Do you want to?"

He looked at her and shook his head. He climbed out of bed and walked over to hers, kneeling on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her. She gladly kissed him back. She needed that feeling again. His warmth, his touch, his taste. JJ had to pull away when the baby started kicking. Hotch looked at her and smiled. She looked up at him and, wrapping her arms around his neck, climbed on top of him, kissing him. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"I'll get used to it…" she reminded him.

They started kissing again. Hotch pushed her back against the pillows. He stroked his hand up and down her spine. She loved it. When they slept together over four months ago JJ didn't have the chance to enjoy it, to take everything in. Now she was going to savor everything, pulling his lips back to hers when he tried to pull away. She didn't care what happened tomorrow. She didn't care if they had to spend another night there because all of that night was spent kissing. As long as she was with him.

Hotch wanted the baby so much, but now he found himself wishing it wasn't there at that time. All he could think about was being with JJ. Having her to himself all night. She was part of the reason he signed the papers. He hoped it would give him a chance to win her. To sweep her away from Will. _That bastard. _He pulled away, but JJ pulled him back.

"JJ, wait…" he said, taking her hands in his and pulling her lips away from his.

"What?" she asked, making him look at her. The second they looked at each other, he couldn't stop himself from kissing her again. She giggled. "Stop… What did you want?"

He took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on her. "That son of a bitch hit you…"

"Can we not talk about that stuff? All I want tonight is you."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, pressing his nose against her neck. "He knew you were pregnant and he still hit you… The fact that he would risk this child's life."

She ran her fingers up and down his arm. "You're not him…"

He stared at her. "Who?"

"Will, you're dad… I know you'd never risk our baby's life. I know it."

Hotch was touched. He never thought she'd remember that. He loved her more for that. He knew he couldn't tell her; so instead, he grabbed her face and kissed her, so intensely she thought she might faint.

They soon realized that they should take a break and pulled apart. Hotch got up and turned off the lights, but immediately crawled under the covers with JJ, wrapping his arms around her stomach, protecting both her and the baby.

Hours later, both were still happy with being awake with each other, in each other's arms. "Hotch?" she asked.

" Hmm…"

"Are you excited?"

"Of course I am… are you?"

"More then ever…"

"JJ…?"

"Yeah?"

"I promise, nothing will ever happen to you… I'd never let it." Knowing he couldn't see her, JJ smiled.

When they checked out of the hotel the next morning, JJ didn't loosen her grip on Hotch's arm and neither could stop smiling. They arrived back at Quantico late.

"Are you sure you're ok with me staying with you?"

"Of course… There's some food in the fridge, remotes, dvds, cds, they're all yours… Now there's something I really need to do…" He saw an agent approaching them. "Anderson…" He walked up to them. "Take Agent Jareau to my house… Bring her bags inside for her…"

"Yes, sir…" Agent Anderson took the bag from the older man.

"Hotch…"

"JJ… I promise… nothing will happen to you," he assured. She smiled. "I'll be there in a little while…"

Walking into the home of Aaron Hotchner that night felt so different to every other time. Maybe this time it was because she wasn't going to have to lie to Will about anything, she wouldn't have to hold herself back with Hotch. She was completely free.

Anderson placed the bags by the door. "Can I do anything else for you, Agent Jareau?"

"No, thank you, Anderson… Thanks for driving me here."

"No problem. Goodnight."

"Night." He left and she was alone. "Aaron, whatever you're doing, it had better be good."

Hotch pulled into the driveway. He walked into the building and pushed the button for the floor he knew the apartment was on. He knocked on the door.

William LaMontagne opened the door. Not giving him time to greet him, Hotch grabbed his shirt and pushed him against the wall. He put there faces close together. "Ok, listen to me, you bastard. If you hit JJ again, or hurt her or the baby-EVER- I will find you and I will make you regret it for the rest of your short, short life."

Hotch turned to leave. "Hey, you can't just-" But Hotch didn't give him a chance to finish. He turned quickly and threw his fist into Will's face causing him to stumble down.

When Hotch returned home JJ was asleep on the couch. He smiled. He grabbed their bags and went upstairs.

JJ felt herself being gently shook. She stirred and saw Hotch looking up at her, smiling.

"Come on… I'm taking you upstairs."

"Where'd you go?"

Hotch hesitated. "Just something I needed to take care of… Don't worry. Come on… up." He took her hands and pulled her up.

He led her upstairs and to a room. It had all Hotch's things in there; his suits, music, books.

"Hotch… maybe I should just stay with Garcia, I mean-"

"JJ, stop… I'm taking the spare room… It's been a crazy few weeks. We'll talk about things in the morning, I promise…" He smiled and kissed her on top of her head. "Night."

"Hotch. Just wait…" He looked at her confused. She walked over to him and [ut her arms around him. "Just hold me for a while." Hotch led her to the bed and stayed with his arms around her until she was asleep. Then respecting what she wanted, he quietly moved out of the room and into his spare room, thinking only of the woman sleeping in his bed and his child until he fell asleep.

**So what do you think… I couldn't have JJ and Hotch apart any longer.**


	16. The talk

**The Talk**

JJ woke up in the morning, unsure whether she was in her apartment or Garcia's or if she was in Hotch's arms. But she was in none of the above.

"Baby… why do you keep making forget the nights before?" she asked her unborn baby. Suddenly a wave of nausea rolled over her and she quickly looked for the bathroom.

Hotch was downstairs, dressed in a blue t-shirt and navy tracksuit pants, reading a newspaper, when JJ came downstairs in her pyjamas. He looked up at her, smiling. "Morning… want some breakfast?" He held up a plate of fruit and toast.

JJ made a face as she sat down. "No… I just threw up thanks…"

He laughed. "You need to eat something… keep your energy up for the two of you…"

She looked at the food. "God I hate it when you're right." She took a slice of toast.

"It happens a lot…"He nodded. Then he became serious. "Do you want to talk?"

JJ looked distant. "I wish we didn't have to, y'know… I just wish things weren't complicated."

"I have to tell you something…"he began. He knew he couldn't keep this from her.

"What?" She looked scared.

"Last night, when I said I had to do something…I went to your place, last night."

JJ's face fell. "Oh, Hotch…"

"And as I hoped, Will was there…"

"No Hotch please, what did you do?"

"I just simply told him that if he ever hurts you again, I'd give it back to ten times worse…"

"WHAT!?" JJ yelled.

"After pushing him against the wall…" He took a bite of his toast.

"What the hell gave you the right to do that?" she asked standing up. She grabbed the table to steady herself as sharp pains shot up through her body.

"What is it?" Hotch asked, walking over to her.

"I don't know."

Ok…"

He brought her to the hospital. The doctor told them it was just stress and to take things easy.

JJ shot a look to Hotch. "Well, I wonder what stressed me out?"

"I'll leave you two alone…" the doctor said, walking backwards. "Remember, take it easy."

Hotch threw his hands in his pockets. "Do you want to tell me why the hell you'd do a stupid thing like that… Have you not seen Romeo and Juliet where they know something bad is going to happen and think they can avoid it by doing things differently but they still manage to screw up?" JJ ranted.

"That's not Romeo and Juliet…" Hotch said.

"Well it's something and I thought it was Romeo and Juliet… C'mon Hotch, why'd you do it?"

He looked at her. "Because I-" He stopped himself before he could finish.

"You what?"

Hotch shrugged. "I'm in love with you, JJ… I've been in love with you for a while and since New York all I can think about is not wasting a second without you. I mean… do you have any idea how much I hated the other night to end? How much I wished you and the baby could just stay in my arms until the end of time… I'm crazy about you."

JJ was looking straight ahead taking it all in. "Is it just the baby though?" she asked.

"What?"

"Well, you hear about these couples who only got together because of their child and they stayed together after it and they regretted it and resented it and their child and I don't want that to happen between us. Because I used to and now I do but I didn't in between so I don't know if my feelings for you really just left or if they were hidden-"

Hotch interrupted her with a kiss. When they pulled apart smiles were on both their faces. "Does that feel hidden or unreal to you?"

"Well," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing their noses together as the doctor came back in, "it does feel kinda unreal, but in a good way."

"So you three ready to go home."

"Definitely," JJ replied. Hotch pulled her off the bed.

As they walked, smiling and kissing and arm in arm, Hayley was getting out of her sisters car with her sister and son when she saw her ex-husband and a familiar blonde woman with a bump at her stomach.


	17. Delays at dinner

When they got back home, they sat cuddled up on the couch for a long time, talking and laughing and kissing and holding hands. They agreed that while Hotch would make dinner, JJ would have shower.

While she was in the shower, there was a knock on the door. Hotch answered it, shocked to see Hailey standing there. "What do you want?"

"So, you're having a baby with a whore?"

"Glad you got straight to the point, Hailey… God forbid we throw around a few pleasantries… I mean we were married for years and we have a son together."

"Tell me, Aaron, did you have to give her a pay raise to sleep with you? Did you have her call you 'Hotch'? Cuff you up?"

"Hailey stop insinuating some meaningless hooker I just picked up on the side of the road."

"So she's meaningful… what… hire her every week?"

"You know what Hailey… whatever your thoughts are about my relationship can't be half as bad as the fact that you cheated…" Hailey stood shocked at the door. She was about to say something. "You know what Hailey I really don't care what you have to say… This is my house now… If Jack ever wants to come here he is more then welcome to. You have no right to sway his decision or ideas of me… You have no right to say no based on the fact that the 'blonde daddy's sleeping with' is going to be there… JJ's part of my life now and this baby is part of mine and JJ's and Jack's. I will stay completely out of your way. You will never see me or hear from me again if you don't want to…" As he was about to close the door he stopped. "Oh and by the way, Hailey… JJ's not the woman I fell in love with that happened to be a whore."

After hearing everything that was being said, JJ finally heard the door close. She was about to go downstairs when Hotch opened the door. She heard everything that was being said, especially when Hotch stood up for her and said he loved her. She was still thinking about it when Hotch's voice came to her. "Dinner!"

JJ hurried down the stairs. She reached the kitchen and found Hotch dishing up the food. "Go sit, I'll be in in a minute."

JJ looked at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh-huh."

"Are you sure you want me? Are you sure you don't want to get back together with Hailey?"

"JJ," he said exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you how INSANELY in love with you? Come here." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her so she felt like she would never breathe again. She felt her legs go weak she had to grab onto the counter to steady herself. Hotch smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. _Subtle JJ_, she yelled to herself. "Dinners gonna get cold," Hotch said.

"ohhh, Let it," she complained, giving him gentle kisses on the neck.

"JJ…"

"Aaron…"

Hotch looked at her, a smile playing across his face. "Aaron? You've never called me that before."

"Do you mind?"

Hotch shook his head. "I like it."

"Really?... Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron," she repeated, kissing him.

He laughed. "JJ, I'm really hungry…"

JJ finally gave up. "Fine you win… we get to eat… Bitchin'!"

They sat on the couch, next to each other and ate. When they finished they went straight up to bed. "Goodnight," he said and turned to leave. JJ grabbed his arm and pulled him close. "Agent Jareau…" She pulled him down onto the bed and started kissing him. An hour later they were asleep.

Hotch dreaming of the life he was getting into, JJ dreaming that she was holding her baby and suddenly dropped it into a sink of scalding hot water. She jolted up in bed. Aaron woke up with her.

"JJ? What is it?"

"I'm gonna be a terrible mother…"


	18. Big Brother

"You're gonna be a great mother…" Hotch comforted as he drove them to the office.

"I dropped my baby into a boiling hot sink of water… How could I possibly be a good mother?"

"It was just a bad dream…nothing more."

"Dreams are supposed be an insight into things." Hotch laughed at her. "Oh you better not be laughing at me.""JJ… it's normal for first time moms to be worried about these things… Now, can we please go to work and talk about this later?"

"Fine," she said defeated. He leaned over and kissed her before they got out of the car and again before they went their separate ways.

When they walked into the bullpen, JJ saw Emily and Garcia sitting in the kitchenette and let go of the hand she was discreetly holding. She smiled at him goodbye and walked over to the girls. "Hey, how was the drive down from Ohio?" Emily asked.

JJ couldn't keep her excitement to herself any longer. "We kissed!" she said happily.

"Again?" Garcia asked.

"Uh-huh… We stayed in a hotel and then we kissed and we slept in the same bed and I stayed with him the last few nights… And then yesterday he said he loved me and we kissed and… OH GOD!... It felt so good… I told him about Will."

"How'd he take that?" Emily asked.

"He pushed him against the wall and told him that if he ever hurt me or the baby again, he'd hurt him so bad…"

"Romantic…"Emily said, laughing.

"Hey guys…" Reid said, walking in.

"Hey Reid… Can I ask you something?" JJ asked.

"Sure."

She told them about her dream. "What would that say to you?"

"JJ, you're not gonna be a bad mother…" Garcia assured

"I just want to know what it would mean…" She looked at Reid.

"You're probably just nervous about everything…Especially with new moms, nerves are pretty huge with pregnancies…"

"Hotch said the same thing…" she said, smiling. Reid looked at her. "Nothing," she said and left the room.

When Hotch walked into his office, he found Hailey sitting in his office. "What?" he asked, not in the mood to talk to her, just wanting to think about JJ.

"I'm sorry for last night… I shouldn't have said those things… I didn't know you knew about the…"

"Is there anything else?" he asked, taking off his jacket and picking up a file.

"I've been thinking that maybe you should get to see Jack…"

Hotch stopped. "Serious?"

"I was thinking, twice a week and he can stay with you and… JJ… every second weekend. Of course we'd need to sort out holidays and stuff, but I thought I'd just give you a quick rota…"

"That's the best I can get right now isn't it?" She nodded. "What about tomorrow? Can I take him tomorrow?"

"I think so…"She smiled. "He'll be excited." She turned to leave. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

The next morning, Hotch grabbed JJ and held her close to him. Neither were working that day. "Guess what?" he whispered.

"What?" she whispered back.

"I talked to Hayely yesterday, and she's agreed to let me see Jack…"

JJ looked up at him, smiling. "That's fantastic…"

"Well, he can spend every second weekend and twice a week."

"Oh, Aaron, that's brilliant, I'm so happy for you!"

"He's coming over today…"

"Cool… I was gonna meet up with Penelope or Emily."

"Stay…"

"You should spend time alone with your son…"

"And he should spend time with his new baby brother or sister…" JJ looked at him. "JJ please?" She caved.

Hotch left to pick up Jack. He came back just as JJ was coming down the stairs from throwing up. He had Jack thrown over one shoulder. Jack was laughing and Hotch was smiling.

Hotch looked up and saw JJ. "This is JJ…" Hotch said, pulling Jack down from his shoulder. He kept him in his arms.

"Hi Jack…"

"Hi," he said quietly, sucking his fingers.

JJ laughed. "You guys hungry? I was just gonna make some sandwiches.""I'm starved," Hotch said. "How bout you, bud?" Jack nodded.

"Ok, you like peanut butter and Jam?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly. JJ and Hotch exchanged looks and smiled.

As she put the sandwiches on a plate, Hotch walked in. "I love you, you know…"

"I know," she smiled.

"Here, I'll take this in," he offered, taking the plate form JJ and putting it on a tray next to the juice cartons.

JJ took her and followed Hotch into the living room. She took a seat on the couch. Hotch sat on the floor with Jack on his lap. JJ saw Jack staring at her stomach. He pulled closer to his father and looked away.

"It's kicking," she said. "Wanna feel?" she asked.

Hotch smiled at Jack and Jack walked over to JJ. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. He suddenly pulled back and giggled.

"Yeah, it's kicking pretty hard, huh?"

Jack nodded. "How come it doesn't hurt?" he asked.

"It does, but I've kinda gotten used to it… Hey, you might be able to play soccer or football with it when it's old enough…"

"Not if it's a girl… girls can't play football or soccer."

"Jack…" Hotch said.

"That's what Uncle Sean said," Jack said innocently.

"I play soccer… I used to play soccer in High School… It's how I got into college," she nodded.

Jack laughed.

They played some board gamed. Suddenly, the baby kicked hard, making it visible in JJ's face. "You ok?" Hotch asked. She nodded "Wanna lie down?"

"I think I should… Bye Jack," she said.

"Bye," he replied.

"I'm just gonna do some cleaning up, want to help?"

Jack walked over to Hotch and climbed on him. "Daddy, do you love JJ?"

Hotch had hopped he wouldn't have to explain this to Jack. "It's very complicated, Jack… I do, I love JJ and I'll love our baby, but no one will EVER, ever take your place, buddy, ok?"

"Promise?" Jack asked.

"I promise… Come here?" He wrapped an arm around Jack and gave him a kiss on the cheek before pulling him into a hug.

JJ was lying in bed, reading a novel when Hotch walked in and threw himself on the bed next to her. "Everything Ok?" she asked.

He nodded. "I brought Jack back to Hayley's…"

"I know you must hate only seeing him twice a week and every second weekend but it's better then never seeing him at all."

"I know, and I'm grateful for that… I just… I don't know, I'm exhausted… I'll be right back." He kissed her quickly and got up. When he walked back to the room, JJ had already fallen asleep


	19. Minimal Loss

**MINIMAL LOSS**

**This chap isn****'****t just about JJ/Hotch!!!**

Reid and Emily are on a plane, going over a case file. Reid closes his. Emily follows suit.

"Can you believe JJ's pregnant?" he asked.

"Can you believe Hotch is the father?" she laughed.

"Yeah… how is that gonna work?"

"Um… I'm not sure… I don't even know if they know… But I think it's looking pretty good that that baby is going to have it's two parents together."

"Seriously?"

"God, I hope so… I think they both need a little happiness in their lives… It's good it'll be going from two sources for both of them…"

Derek Morgan walked into the bullpen, finding JJ, Hotch, Rossi and Garcia. Morgan took a step back when he saw Hotch pulling away from JJ, hitting into someone, causing the team to look.

"Sorry… still takes some getting used to… Just that… Where Reid and Emily?"

"Nice, Handsome…" Garcia complimented.

"They're in La Plata County, Colorado…" Hotch began.

"We got a call yesterday, late…" JJ continued, "A teenager claimed to be abused by a cult leader… Benjamin Cyrus."

"We don't know what girl called us so we sent them there to interview the children in the cult. They're meeting a social Services worker named Nancy Lunde."

Reid and Emily drove down a rural road with Nancy.

"We received a 9-1-1 call from a whispering girl. She claimed the sect's leader, Benjamin Cyrus, had sexually abused her," Nancy explained.

Reid was sitting in the back, glancing through the man's file. "I have no records at all… It's rumored that he has been practicing polygamy and arranged marriages."

"We suspect the caller to be Jessica Evanson… We aren't 100% sure so we were able to negotiate interviews with all of the children at the ranch."

Emily turned to Reid, handing her weapon and ID over the seat to Reid "It would be better if you didn't identify us as FBI. "Use their real names and introduce us as Child Interview experts."They approached the complex. Benjamin Cyrus sat in the stairs leading to the chapel, waiting for them, reading the Bible. The two agents got out of the car and approached him.

He spoke first. "It's a sad world where someone called a… 'child interview expert'… is needed." He pointed in the direction of the children's school rooms. "You want to go up there…"

Reid held back a few paces, "You have, uh, solar panels," he stated, pointing to the hillside outside the buildings, surprised. "We are a completely self-sufficient community, living by Benjamin Franklin's maxim: 'God helps those who help themselves'… You seem surprised."

"Not surprised… impressed," he admitted.

Cyrus nodded and walked up the , Reid, and Nancy sit with Jessica Evanson and her mother.

"Jessica, we received a phone call from a young girl, claiming she was being abused by Cyrus," Emily told her.

Jessica looks at them, appalled. "What? No… Cyrus wouldn't anyone. I mean…is it so wrong for a husband to share a bed with his wife?" Emily and Reid look at each other, shocked.

"You're only 15 years old… Your mother would have had to consent to the marriage."

Jessica shoots a glance at her mother. "She did," Emily stated.

Suddenly men with automatic rifles burst into the schoolroom. Two men walk up to Emily and Reid and start patting them down, searching for weapons.

Cyrus walks up to them. "I just got a very strange phone call from a news reporter. Is there anything you want to tell me? About a raid maybe?" he asked. Emily and Reid looked at each other, not knowing what he is talking about. "They don't know… Alright, come on…" He opened a panel in the wall, revealing a trap door. He opened it. "Get in… Everyone, get in."Reid and Emily do as they are told, rushing through a tunnel with the women and children from the school house.

"All children, listen to your parents…And have faith," Cyrus encourages.

They move through the underground chamber.

"Hey Reid, check out the weapons and explosives," Emily notices.

"Oh my god… What do we do?" Nancy panics.

"Calm down… It'll be alright…" Reid comforted.

"Did you know there was going to be a raid?" she asked

Reid and Emily exchanged glances. "No…" Reid answered.

"I'm an officer of the state…I have to do something…" She rushes towards the stairs,

"No, Nancy," Emily called.

Emily and Reid try to stop her but she disappears before they can get to her.

Emily and Reid look at each other. "The officers won't be there for long."

JJ gets off the phone. She hurried out of her office and raced through the BAU bullpen to Morgan's desk. She grabbed the remote and flicked through the television remote to show the coverage of the failed attack on the Separatarian Sect Ranch in Colorado.

Morgan watched, shocked. "Where did Emily and Reid go to?" JJ looks at him. "HOTCH!" he yelled up to Hotch's office.

Hotch and Rossi walk out of their offices. All heads in the bullpen turned, staring at the television. They watch the television footage. Suddenly, every phone began to ring shrilly, filling the BAU offices with nerve-jangling noise.

"OK," Hotch shouts over the noise to be heard. "WE'LL be working lead on this case with Hostage Rescue and Support. We'll need all hands on for this one. LET'S GET TO WORK." The four remaining agents disperse, collecting there things, preparing for a flight to Colorado.

They are at the plane and in the air, flying towards their colleagues in Colorado in record time. The second she got on the plane, JJ noticed Hotch wearing a blue shirt, open at the collar, no tie or jacket and beige pants. She eyed him questioningly. He moved his head dismissively.

In the air, they have the news playing on the laptop.

"The Sect had been under investigation by the State Attorney General for weapons violations for the past six months…" the Reporter announces.

"How come we didn't know that?" Morgan asked.

JJ looked at him. "I checked… I asked ATF call the SAG, and he told them pointblank there were no pending investigations… Maybe he lied because he was challenging the governor in the next election… This would look great on the campaign trail."

Garcia cut into the video feed of the news report. "Who wants a little history lesson on Liberty Ranch? It was originally founded as a Libertarian self-sustaining commune by Leo Kane. Libertarian principles state people should be free to do as they please as long as they don't hurt others."

"Libertarians aren't particularly religious," Rossi says.

"The new leader, Benjamin Cyrus, introduced religion eight years ago when Kane left. Cyrus has no record, but Leo Kane is currently in prison for tax evasion. Serving seventeen years," Hotch said.

"Apparently, Libertarians do not like paying taxes," Garcia commented

"Seventeen years for tax evasion?" Morgan asked, surprised.

"Oh no," Garcia said, "that would be two for tax evasion and 15 for going after four IRS agents with a Louisville Slugger"

"We should interview Kane… he might be the best source for information about the compound and Cyrus," Hotch continued

In the basement of the compound, Emily and Reid overhear the sect members talking about their casualties. "Three are dead, including a young couple."

Jessica walks in with the couple's little girl in her arms. Cyrus walks up to them, comforting them both, and telling them everything will be all right. He turns to his second-in-command, Cole. "Distribute weapons and ammo to everyone."The team finally arrived at the command post outside Liberty Ranch.

Hotch stopped Rossi before they went inside. "They've left choice of hostage negotiator up to me... I want you to take the lead."

Rossi's face fell. "Look, Hotch, I taught most of the members of the hostage negotiating team, but I'm personally involved in this… and so are you. We can't remain objective with our teammates trapped inside the compound."

"I know, but only we can effectively profile Reid and Prentiss to determine how their involvement on the inside will affect any outcome… I know how bad this is, that's why I want you to do the talking," he says.

Rossi soon agrees, are interrupted by an officer. "I'm just following federal orders."

A man in a suit and tie exits the trailer housing the Hostage Rescue Team, and demands to know who is in command. Another man follows him, trying to stop him. Hotch hurries over.

He turns to the State Attorney General. "Who are you?" he asked. JJ, Morgan and Rossi approach them.

"I'm the attorney general of this state," he began, "I demand to know why I wasn't told the FBI was sending undercover agents into the Separatarian Ranch?"

Hotch took a step closer. "The only thing you're in a position to demand is a lawyer."

" Who the hell are you?" the attorney General asked, angrily.

Hotch looked at him with a cold stare. "I'm Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief. I'm the guy who's going to tell the Attorney General of the United States whether to charge you with obstructing a federal investigation or negligent homicide," he stated with a harsh tone.

The Attorney General looked shocked. "You can't talk to me like that."

Hotch takes another step closer. "Get off my crime scene." The Attorney General looked at him, and then moved to his awaiting car.

As Hotch steps to her side, JJ smiles. "Sexy," she said. Hotch offers her a weak smile.

"Thanks for that… Dan Torre head of the HRT."

"Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau, David Rossi, Derek Morgan."

Dan turns to Rossi. "We worked together at Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Freeman Standoff…"

"That's right…" Rossi says.

"We dismissed the State Police and utilized the local sheriff's office for support. We've had no contact with the sect so far, and, because the compound is completely self-sustaining, we can't restrict their access to the news."

Hotch nodded. "Don't worry, ah, JJ is going to keep the media under control." JJ smiled and the group walked into the trailer.They give the officers a profile briefing concerning the "Minimal Loss" scenario.

"Every person we get out is a life saved. We might not save them all," notes Rossi.

Morgan takes a marker and moves to the white board, drawing a pyramid shape. "In a cult, the leader is at the top," he draws it on the pyramid, "his die-hard believers just beneath, and the largest group at the base are the women and children… the followers. This is the group that can be saved."

"There is a strategy…trickle – flow – gush…It's designed to get the most followers out, beginning with one or two, then three or four, and then as many as they can. Then when the situation begins to go bad, then we go in."

"Our job is to change the cult's perception of the HRT – to try to become less an invading army," Rossi explains.

"What if we change from our usual military-type fatigues to more casual clothes?" Torre asked

"Might work…" Rossi agrees

By the time Rossi finally makes contact with Cyrus, it's dark.

Emily and Reid watch Cyrus hold the phone up to the now-orphaned little girl making sure her voice is the first one that Rossi heard.

"Cyrus, the State Police are gone and all I want is to resolve the situation. The FBI isn't just going to go away, especially since one of the officers has already died," he begins in an even tone, "we have nothing against your group's beliefs; we just want to avoid a battle… What about the three child services agents?"

"One of them is dead…"Cyrus admits. Dread rose in the stomachs of Hotchner, Morgan, JJ and Rossi. "Her name was Nancy Lunde."

Relief washes over, the four BAU agents, though a fellow agent had been killed

"We'll give you medical supplies to help treat the wounded…I'll deliver them myself at first light," Rossi said. The HRT begin to hide miniature transmitters inside the boxes of the medical supplies.

"Rossi, you shouldn't go in there alone," Morgan says, worried.

"I need to build trust with Cyrus."

"Alright… I want parabolic microphones trained on every window in the compound," Torre says.

His co-worker speaks up. "The cult has blinds on every window… getting enough glass vibration to conduct the sound will be difficult."

"Agents Reid and Prentiss are completely familiar with the procedures the responders will be using. They'll be ready to get the cult members talking, knowing that bugs will be in play."The next morning, Rossi drives a pick-up to the foot of the chapel steps. He carries a box, up the stairs, glancing at the bloodstains on the sides of the doorway. Cyrus opens the door.

"Benjamin Cyrus, he introduced, ushering Rossi inside. Inside the chapel, the women and children are praying quietly. Rossi sees Reid and Emily seated against a wall. Taking in the number and types of weapons in evidence, Rossi only lets his gaze rest briefly on his two colleagues.

"Can I take the children with me?"

"No… they are my protection."

"We will not try to force you out. I'll tell law enforcement that you aren't crazy, just determined to live by God's law." The two men shake hands, and Rossi turns to go."Prepare the wine," he orders his men, and he moves from member to member, pouring each a cup of wine from one communal jug. "We are celebrating because, today, we are one day closer to being with God."

Emily and Reid note Jessica's body language and her devout worship of Benjamin Cyrus.

They look at each other. "She's not the 9-1-1 caller…" Emily states.

"Hey Em, check out Jessica's mother."

"She's moving across the aisle to her daughter-"

"-standing to block Jessica's view of Cyrus."

Cyrus continues his sermon. "Have faith in me to guide your way." He puts his cup to his lips and the congregation follows. They all drink the wine."Reid and Prentiss are okay," Rossi announces happily, arriving back at the headquarters. "But Benjamin Cyrus is too calm…As if he was just waiting for this to happen."

The radio operator turns to them. "We've picked up a signal from one of the bugs," he announces. The team listens in, just in time to hear Benjamin Cyrus say, "We will be with Him soon, we've drank the poison together…"

"My team is ready to go," Torre told the BAU.

"We wait…Cyrus was too calm and cool to be in the midst of committing mass suicide with his followers."

Inside the chapel, some of the sect's followers continue to listen to Cyrus and wait, others are crying and holding each other.

Prentiss is looking around frantically. "Cyrus' henchmen are all watching the crowd and taking notes," Reid says. "Maybe Cyrus is bluffing and there was no poison in the wine…Cyrus' second-in-command is writing down the names of everyone who is crying, so he knows who will follow him to the end." "We should send someone in…" Torre was saying back at HRT.

"Jim Jones did the same thing a few years before his church committed suicide," Rossi argues, his voice rising over Hotch's objections.

Hotch quickly becomes torn. "Prepare your team."

As they get ready, Cyrus' voice rings out. "There was no poison - it was a test of faith…Watch each other for signs of weakness."

Hotchner is shaken. He turns to Torre. "Stand down," he orders.

JJ walks back into the silence. "The former sect leader has just arrived from prison."

Dressed in a standard-issue orange jumpsuit, Leo Kane takes delight in telling Morgan about Charles Mulgrew aka Benjamin Cyrus. "His mother had been five months pregnant when she arrived at the Liberty Ranch and, as Charles grew up among my followers, I noticed the young man was special. He had an astounding memory for anything that he read, but he was also very mouthy. When he was 17, some young girls told me that Charles had been messing with them, and I had kicked him out. A few years later, he came back and told me his mother had died and he found God."

"How does a young man manage to kick a guy out of his own?"

"One day he came to me and said that God told him that I should leave the ranch. When I said that if God felt that way he could tell me Himself he put a gun to my head and said, 'He just did.' It had taken me 20 years to build that ranch…I'll do whatever he can to send Cyrus straight to hell."

"I need a map," Morgan is on speakerphone. "I have been able to retrieve Charles Mulgrew's rap sheet…it includes charges of statutory rape in Kentucky. The prison warden informed me that, once inside, Mulgrew had become a model citizen – and not just in name. He volunteered for some of the more difficult jobs, which include working with AIDS patients."

"This might make the situation more difficult: Cyrus has been to prison and knows what happens to child molesters there – he is not going to want to go back," Rossi says.

"JJ, can you release a false statement to the press… Deny any evidence of sexual misconduct within the sect," he says. He looks up. He is surprised by the look of cold fury on JJ's normally warm face. "What is it?"

She links Hotchner's computer into the television feed. "You've got to see this," she announces "The hostage negotiations have now been taken over by the FBI… Anonymous sources inside the State Attorney General's office have told us there is an undercover FBI agent currently being held inside the Separatarian Sect Ranch," the reporter in the basement tunnel Reid and Emily look up as Cyrus approaches them. Cole is behind him with a rifle.

"Which one of you is it?" Cyrus demands. He pulls a handgun from his belt. "Which of you is an FBI agent.

"Why do you believe one of us is an agent?" Reid asked.

"God will forgive me for what I must do," Cyrus states and aims his gun at Reid's head.

Emily watched in shock.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"One of you does," he says, "Who is it?"

Knowing Cyrus will kill him if he doesn't find out, Emily speaks. "Me. It's me," she admits. Cyrus lowers his gun slowly, and Reid meets Emily's eyes, emotions playing across his face. He sees something in her eyes but before he can fully understand what she is trying to communicate to him, his attention is drawn to Cyrus, who turns calmly to Emily. Cyrus suddenly reaches out and grabs her by the hair and drags her into a room at the end of the tunnel.

"I told you not to put me in this position. "

Reid begins to stand, but Cole is covering him with the Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan listen in, Cyrus beats Emily, knocking her to the floor again and again.

Hotchner takes off his headphones. "We have to go in…"he insists.

"If we go into the compound, we will be risking the lives of everyone in there," Rossi debates.

Reluctantly, face white with strain, Hotchner puts his headphones back on.

Cyrus pulls Emily to her feet and throws into a mirror that hangs on one wall, shattering the glass and badly cutting her. Through her groans and cries, Cyrus quotes the Bible, telling her that her wounds will cleanse away evil.

After he hurls her headfirst into a shelf, Emily crouches before her attacker and says, "I can take it." Enraged, Cyrus backhands her to the floor.

Morgan and Hotchner both agree that they send in HRT.

"Wait, wait, listen to what she's saying."

Emily stands, blood running down her face, and repeats her words.

It hits them. "She's antagonizing him!" Morgan states.

"She's not talking to him," Rossi says.

"She's talking to _us_. She doesn't want us to go in," Hotch agrees.

"Pride comes before the fall," Cyrus tells her. He punches his fist into her stomach. She falls, barely conscious, shaking.

Her teammates continue to listen, helpless, as Cyrus orders Cole to take her on a cot with her hands bound, Emily watches warily as Kathy Evanson's comes to sit at her side. She begins cleaning Emily's face.

"You shouldn't have lied to Cyrus. He always knows when someone is lying."

Turning to face Kathy, Emily realizes she has heard her quiet voice before. "It would take a strong woman to defy him."

Looking around in fear to see if anyone else heard her, Kathy leaves.

Cyrus is nursing his fist when Reid comes hesitantly into the room.

"Nancy Lunde described her as a child abuse expert from Denver," he explains. "And in the four years we'd worked together she never lied to him."

"Never?" Cyrus asked.

The profilers listen as Cyrus and Reid talk.

"A 15-year-old girl should be considered an adult," claims Cyrus., "All the abuse charges I've investigated against small church groups have proven false," he agrees, playing the part of a questioning young man who wants to believe.

"God sent me to Liberty Ranch to save me."

"You should test the negotiator's honesty by asking him to name the FBI agent. His response will show if he is telling the truth. If you agree to release a child and not harm the agent if he is answered truthfully, the FBI will feel compelled to respond…." Reid advises, proving his loyalty to the cult.

Listening intently at the HRT trailer, Rossi mutters, "Reid has him."

Cyrus notices Cole's discomfort. "What's wrong?"

"I have heard some of the cult members talk about leaving," he admits reluctantly

"Bring the baby whose parents had been killed – I will introduce her to the FBI."When Rossi calls again, Cyrus is ready with his demands. "I will release a child if you tell me the identity of the FBI agent."

"I cannot reveal that information," Rossi said, playing along.

Cyrus sends the little girl out of the chapel. Quickly removing their guns, Morgan and Torre hurry to a pick-up and drive towards the compound. Speaking soothingly, Morgan goes towards the girl and picks her up, carrying her to the car.

"Emily Prentiss…" Rossi asmits, feigning reluctance, "and she was undercover as a child interview expert."

Cyrus looks directly at Reid. "I will deliver another sign of good faith." He hangs up and turns to Cole. "Assemble everyone in the chapel, including Agent Prentiss."The people assemble. Cyrus speaks. "I know of some people's lack of faith."He began reading off names.

Emily walks in, her face bruised, streaks of blood on her shirt. Reid walks up to her, distressed by her injuries "I'm sorry…" he whispers but Emily just shakes her head.

Her eyes scan the crowd, as the people on the list rise from their seats. "Look at who he's releasing," she murmurs, trying to get Reid's attention back to their situation. "Cyrus is going to release all those who failed the earlier test." They look at each other, both knowing what this means.

"I'll try to get a message to the team so they can communicate the timing of raid." He moves away from Prentiss, and approaches the cult leader "I told her she shouldn't have lied to you."

Cole takes Emily back to her room, and Cyrus turns to the standing cult members. "Collect your belongings." Men, women, and children walk slowly down the steps of the chapel to behind in the chapel office, Reid listens as Cyrus speaks with Rossi on the phone. "We will surrender at noon the following day…" he says. "Can we get food – fried chicken and all the fixings –

"I'd be happy to do so."

Confused, Cole questions the cult leader. "Why did you released so many?"

Reid interjects. "They weren't prepared."

Cole turns on him. "Shut up, outsider."

Cyrus tells Cole he should listen to the young man.

Reid speaks, carefully choosing his words for his teammates, explains the situation. "The believers had a chance to prove themselves after drinking the supposedly poisoned wine, that Cyrus wants the press there in the morning to show everyone their resolve and their last act of defiance."

"How do you know that?" Cole asks.

Reid answers, "I'm always looking for signs of things to come."His eyes wide with dawning comprehension, Rossi throws his headphones off and turns to his teammates.

"Reid is telling us that time is up, the cult is ready to make its last stand, and that he is waiting for a …sign… from them as to when the raid will take place. We've got to go in."Later, the HRT members are putting meals together for the cult, placing them in Styrofoam containers. The BAU members know they need to go in, and Torre suggests that 3 AM is the right time for a raid – normal biorhythms are at their lowest point at 3 AM. Morgan believes they also need to stage a diversion – something that will play to Cyrus' expectations. Torre knows how to do that and leaves to procure Humvees, the same type of vehicles that authorities used to storm the Waco compound. Hotchner has no doubt that Reid and Prentiss will do what they can to separate the diehards from the women and children at the proper time, but he does not know how to communicate that time to his agents. Noticing the aluminum tins that the chicken is being packed in, Hotchner grabs one of the lids and writes in block letters: "New Owners! New Hours! Open Till 3 AM!"Bound and lying on the bed, Emily uses the heel of her shoe to move aside the blinds and begins to speak.

"If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel but I need to know when you're coming," she repeats over and over again, hoping that someone is listening.

Agent Torre brings Prentiss' message to Morgan and the two move to a vantage point nearby.

Using a rifle with a laser scope, Morgan shines the red light through Prentiss' window. She immediately notices the tiny red dot on the opposite wall and stops her repetition. "I see it… What time?" she asks.

Morgan flashes the light three times.

"Three am?" Morgan moves the dot up and down, mimicking a head nod. "Reid is on the first floor with Cyrus." She hears footsteps. "Someone's coming… I have to go," she warns the listeners and lowers her foot to the the chapel, Reid notices the bright red letters on the take-out boxes. The cult leader stands over him. "You can leave if you wish to."

Reid refuses. "Someone needs to tell your story."

Cyrus is pleased that Reid has decided to remain. Opening a wooden crate that has been carried from the basement, he tells Reid it is time for final preparations. The box is filled with brings Emily a glass of water. Emily confronts the woman with the truth. "Cyrus is planning a mass suicide, and you made the original 9-1-1 call."

Kathy is wracked with guilt, believing this would never have happened if she hadn't made the call. "All I wanted to do was save my daughter from him, but I was afraid that Jessica wouldn't leave him."

"You have one more chance to save your daughter, but you must gather the women and children in the basement just before 3 AM." Kathy refuses, "I have faith that in your strength… that you're strong enough to do the right thing."

Kathy looks at Emily coldly and walks out, leaving the agent in fear that she will go directly to Cyrus and tell him about the outside in the dark, looking at the compound, Hotch and JJ talk.

"Please don't go in," she begs, holding onto him

There is a moment's silence. He laughs. "I don't know how I'll react if something happens to Emily and Reid."

"I know, neither do I but losing you when things are finally going right is just…"

Rossi interrupts. "You ready?"

Hotch looks at JJ. "I can't go inside on the raid…"

"I understand…"

"You don't have to go in either."

"No… but I choose to go in. I'll bring them back safe."

Walking through the compound on her way to the chapel, Kathy sees the men setting the charges and hurries away.

Cyrus sets dynamite inside the doors to the chapel as Reid stands watching.

Hotch and his team don flak vests and check their equipment.

Emily sits on her cot, staring at the wall.

Kathy wakes her soon returns and unbinds Emily's hands. "I told Jessica that Cyrus wanted her to take the women and children into the tunnels."

"Where's the man I was with?"

Kathy hurries her out of the room. "He's with Cyrus in the chapel… it's already 2:45 AM."

Outside the compound, the Humvees arrive. Cole advises Cyrus, and he goes to the door to look, mumbling, "They lied to us." Leaving the door unbarred, he advises Cole to let them get closer. Taking the detonator in his hand, he steps outside the chapel and fires a few rounds into the air to get the attention of the press. He heads back ushers the girls down the hallway to the tunnel. Attacking from the hidden tunnel in the school building, the HRT fills the tunnel with gas, and takes out the guards with a few well-placed shots. Cole hears the shots from the chapel

"Check the fuses," Cyrus orders.

Morgan arrives in the tunnel and sees Emily. She limps up to him, as other officers shepherd the girls to safety.

"There were explosives… Reid's in the chapel with Cyrus."

"We will get him…go with the others go…" She leaves.

Jessica sees the officers and immediately turns on her mother in rage.

"No, I'm not leaving him! I'm not leaving my husband." She runs back into the tunnel. Kathy turns to run after her, but Morgan grabs her and hands the distraught woman off to Rossi and Hotch.

"I'll get your daughter," he promised.

He and the HRT head into the tunnel, as Rossi, Hotch, and Prentiss get the women and children outside.

Upstairs, at the chapel doors, Reid has run out of time.

He stands behind Cole, and begins quoting scripture him, reciting Jeremiah 29:11: God's promise to give his people hope and a future.

Cyrus hears this and strides over to Reid, holding up his rifle and threatening him. He quotes Matthew 10:34, when Jesus told his disciples that he came into the world not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.

Reid begins to answer, but Cyrus rams the stock of his rifle into Reid's stomach.

"You cannot convert my brothers," he whispers, hitting him again.

Reid falls to the floor, and Cyrus takes up the detonator the detonator, Cyrus speaks to Reid. "No one had to follow. God could have stopped me."

Morgan steps from around the corner and puts three bullets into Cyrus' chest.

"He just did," Reid announces.

The detonator has fallen clear of Cyrus' body, and the compound is secure.

Reid walks towards Morgan. "Where… How's Emily?"he asked.

They both turn in time to see young Jessica Evanson enter the room and with a look of shock and sadness on her face as she looks at Cyrus' body on the floor. She then notes a bright yellow detonator near her and reaches for it.

Reid knows what she is about to do and grabs Morgan by the arm. "RUN!" he yells.

Kathy presses the button and the chapel goes up in flames.

Hotch and JJ stand by a car, fear on their faces as smoke fills the air and the agents ushers women and children from the compound.

Prentiss rounds the corner in time to see the devastation of the chapel and the flames rising from the wreckage.

"Reid! Morgan!" she calls.

Two figures emerge through the smoke, coughing. Emily runs and envelopes Reid into a tight hug.

Hotch, JJ and Rossi look on, relief clear on their faces. As the agents stand before the burning compound, Kathy Evanson stands nearby, waiting to see her daughter. After a moment, she realizes the truth. With tears in her eyes, Emily stands before Kathy silently.

On the plane home, Morgan is sleeping on the couch, Rossi is doing paperwork and JJ is trying to get some peaceful sleep next to Hotch. Reid is sitting by himself on the BAU jet, a book propped open before him.

JJ watches as Emily walks into the cabin, her bruises still dark against her pale skin, and sits across from him. She leans forward and takes both of his hands, in hers. She speaks so quietly that JJ can't hear.

"Look, I need you to listen to me," she says, "What Cyrus did to me is not your fault. It was my decision, and I would do it again." Reid doesn't look at her. "Do you hear me?" Finally, Reid smiles in acceptance.

JJ notes how Emily keeps her grasp on his hands for one more moment, then smiles back, before leaning back in her seat.


	20. Maternity Arrangements

**MATERNITY Arrangements**

**This chapter is a mixture of both season four episodes four and five: for example Jordan Todd isn't introduced until episode five but I liked the line on the plane.**

**I've seen up to episode four and the end of episode five, but there were no recaps on either so I'm doing this from memory**

JJ and Hotch lay in bed together, surrounded by files of possible Media liaisons while JJ was on maternity leave. Strauss had allowed them to pick JJ's temporary replacement.

They had both gone to her yesterday to discuss her maternity leave. She was surprised to see Hotch with her.

"Agent Jareau… You're coming along quickly…"

"Thank you ma'am…"

"Agent Hotchner, what gives me the gift of your visit?" she asked, looking at them over her glasses.

"There's something you should know," Hotch spoke. "As you clearly know, JJ's pregnant, but I'm the father… And we've been pursuing a relationship since the case in Ohio."

"That's… well, a surprise, I'll admit. But I guess there's no punishment I give out, after what happened in Milwaukee last year, we all know that the BAU should stick together." She smiled. "Congratulations… Both of you."

They smiled. "Thank you."

Now they were debating who should take JJ's place. "How about Melinda Barren?" Hotch asked. "She's young, worked for several news stations… She's working with the White collar team."

"Let me see," she asked, stretching her neck form her place in the crook of Hotch's arm. "No," she finally decided.

"Why not?" he asked.

JJ certainly didn't want to tell him the real reason. "Just 'cause…" She picked up one of her files. "How about Jason Wilkes?" she asked, showing him the file.

Hotch looked at the file quickly, then looked straight ahead. "JJ, he's either quit or been fired within a year."

"I don't plan for being out for a whole year."

"Jordan Todd?" She looked at the file and shook her head. "Y'know, all your choices are male… You got something you want to tell me?" he asked slyly.

"I just think…" she was quiet for a long moment.

"Yes?" he urged.

She shook her head. "Yeah, no, I got nothing… I don't want it to be some woman… I mean let's face it your record with media liaisons is pretty good."

"JJ, it's impossible for me to fall out of love with you when I've loved you for so long… I'd never do anything to lose you… Now listen to this, she works with the terrorism unit, she's never missed a day of work, she held onto her last job for years…She's pretty good…" He caught her stare. "Of course not as good as you, never… But, she's the best we've seen so far."

"I don't like her."

"We told Strauss that us, or us baby would not interfere with our opinions on the job. We need to be objective…"

"Promise you won't find her attractive?"

Hotch laughed and kissed her as his promise.

A case came up the next day. "There have been four cases of car crashes in the last week."

"Car crashes?" Morgan asks suspiciously. "JJ, car crashes aren't exactly…"

"They've all been positioned in the exact same way before the other driver hit the sitting car and the autopsy has just conformed that they were dead before the collision."

"So we're looking at a serial car crasher?" Rossi asked.

"It's a different caller every time… The last caller was a truck driver." JJ's eyes hit on Hotch's door as Agent Erin Strauss walked in with another woman. "Ah, Hotch…" She indicated the door.

"Ok, guys, wheels up in forty five minutes," Hotch said, he looked at JJ and she followed him as he walked to his office.

He let her enter first. "Ma'am," she greeted to Strauss. She turned to the other woman. "You must be Agent Todd."

"Jordan's fine." They shook hands.

"Ah, Jennifer Jareau… JJ… and Aaron Hotchner."

Hotch shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," she said. "Congratulations." They all smiled.

They spoke for ten minutes when Hotch looked at his watch. "As much as we'd love to stay, we have to be in the air in thirty five minutes... A case…"

"No sleep for the wicked…" JJ smiled. Jordan smiled.

"We'll be in touch before we get back, set up a time for a tour of the place, you meet the team…"

"Great. It was nice meeting you both." They shook hands again.

"Good luck," Strauss said as they left.

"Well," Hotch said as they drove to they drove to the air strip. "She's nice."

"That had better not be insinuating something, Aaron," she said, playfully hitting him on the arm.

They arrived on the plane. Everyone was already there; Rossi was sitting near the entrance, Morgan on the couch. Emily and Reid across from each other by a table. JJ and Hotch sat next to them. As soon as they were in the air, JJ took out a disc player and placed the headphones on her stomach. Emily eye her curiously.

"JJ…?" she asked.

"So it won't hear…" she replied, embarrassed.

"What's it listening to?" she asked.

"Beethoven."

"I listened to Mozart…" He went into a large rant, but she wasn't listening. She and Hotch were looking at each other, still unable to believe she had just four and a half months to go. "Just remember not to play it too loud… The amniotic fluid makes noises sound louder…"

JJ smiled. "I'll remember that."

They arrived, only to learn that another young couple had bee kidnapped.

As Hotch, Morgan, Rossi and Emily looked around at all the motels, JJ and Reid sat alone in the sheriffs office. She winced as the baby kicked hard.

"That was a big one…"

"It's amazing, I still can't get around babies… Something from small seeds can become… well, us."

"Reid, did you actually feel the baby kicking?"

He looked at her. "Yeah."

"Without analyzing it? Being the genius?" JJ took his hand. She kept it there for a minute.

"It's still freaky…" he said.

"There some things we're not supposed understand."

"Yeah… So what's happening with you and Hotch?" he asked, remembering his conversation with Emily on the flight to Colorado.

JJ laughed. "I guess we'll see where it goes… What's going on with you and Emily?"

"What?"

"Come on, Spence, I saw you two on the plane home from Colorado… There is definitely something there."

Their discussion was interrupted when the team came back to give the profile.

The next day it hit Hotch. "I questioned him."

The team went to where Hotch had questioned. He and Morgan chased him out of the room while JJ and Emily looked after the victims. Hotch and Morgan found him, hit by a car, dead.

On the flight home, JJ decided to ask Emily what was going home with Reid.

"Nothing."

"Emily…"

"There's nothing… We're friends. We went through a lot in Colorado. We didn't know if we were going to survive

"If you say so…" JJ said, smiling. Emily threw a glance at Reid, who was sleeping on the couch, and smiled.

JJ met Jordan Todd in her office. She introduced her to Penelope Garcia, and, while showing her around they bumped into Morgan, Reid and Emily.

"Guys this is Agent Jordan Todd… She's gonna be the communications liaison while I'm out."

Reid looked at her. "You're already sorting that stuff out?" he asked.

"It's less than twenty weeks… These are Agents Emily Prentiss, Dr Spencer Reid and…"

"Derek Morgan," she finished herself.

"Do you two know each other?" JJ asked.

"Barely," Morgan replied.

"Um… Conference room?" JJ asked.

"Sure…"

She was still there when Hotch was leaving. "My place?" he asked into her neck.

"Since when haven't I spent the night in your place," JJ countered.

"Good point, so maybe we should consider moving some of your stuff into my place."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, is there really any point in having two places when all we need is one… and it would be completely unnecessary to but two cots, two beds, two high chairs…"

"Ok, ok, you win Agent Hotchner…" She eyed him suspiciously. "You knew I'd be tired and that that would be the best way to get at me…" He shrugged in admittance. "You're one hell of a profiler," she complimented as Hotch put his arm around her waist and led her out.


	21. Complications

**COMPLICATIONS**

JJ and Hotch were in the spare room of his house. There was a cot in one side and both were wearing old clothes. Hotch was holding a paint brush. They were painting the babies room pale purple.

"I can't believe the baby's gonna be here soon… It doesn't feel like it's been ten months…"

"Well, there's been so much drama since I got pregnant, I'm not surprised." Hotch smiled.

Bored, JJ eyed the paint. "Hey…" She grabbed his free hand. "Kiss me." He bent down and did as he was told. Meanwhile, JJ dipped her finger into the paint and placed her hand on Hotch's face. She laughed when she saw the pale purple smudge on his face. He looked at her, then her hand, putting the pieces together.

"You're dead."

She laughed and pressed her painted finger to her nose. He kissed hers.

Hotch finished painting and started dinner. JJ was asleep on the floor. She headed downstairs and stared at Hotch for some time. He turned and JJ saw his face was spotless. "Aww, you're no fun…" she laughed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes I am… Kitty…"

JJ eyed him suspiciously. Then she looked in the mirror.

She turned to him. "You drew whiskers on my face?"

"Paybacks a bitch…"

"You're… I'm pregnant, ok… you have to be nice to me."

"Ok…" He pulled her to him. "How about this?" And he kissed her.

"Fairly good."

Three days later, JJ woke up at one pm. Hotch was in Tallahassee on a case with the team. She was expecting him back today or tomorrow. She had expected the sharp pain, but she felt nothing. The baby wasn't kicking.

She quickly got dressed and hurried to the BAU. She ran into the bullpen, then to Garcia's office.

She saw the look of fear on her friend's face. "Peaches, what's wrong?"

Then the tears came. "It's not kicking, Pen, it's not kicking."

Garcia's face fell. "Ok…" She got up. "We'll just go to the hospital. It'll be fine." She led JJ out of the office and to her car. "I will call Kevin, to cover for me and… ok…" She started her car.

As she waited outside for JJ who was taking tests, Hotch ran down the hall. Garcia looked at him surprised. "What are…?"

"We called to see if you could get information for us and Kevin Doyle told us you brought JJ here… I know she wouldn't take you from work unless she thought it was really bad…"

"She had been having really bad pains the last few days, but she just thought that it was the baby's kicks growing stronger… but this morning, there was nothing."

They walked into the room. JJ was alone. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"It doesn't matter."

"What's going on?" Garcia asked.

JJ fell apart again. "I don't know the details but… They need to do an emergency C-section… I'm not there yet, I'm not there…"

Hotch pulled her closer to him. "I know, I know…"

"Ok… um… I'm just gonna… get some off your stuff and see if Kevin needs…"

"Thanks…" Hotch said.

"Aaron, the baby's not ready yet… not for another thirteen weeks… It's not ready yet… It's not…"

The doctor soon came in and wheeled JJ away to the operation room. Hotch waited out in the hall.

When JJ woke up she was alone. She couldn't see Hotch anywhere. Then he walked into the room, his jacket and tie off. His face a mess.

"Hey… you've been out for the day…" he smiled, brushing hairs out of her face.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.

"Ten am… Everyone's just arrived… they're out in the hall… We were so terrified, JJ…"

JJ's eyes grew wide. "The baby?" she asked, tears forming.

Hotch smiled. "It's a girl…" She let her head fall back in relief. "JJ… Annabelle Jareau Hotchner is being given the best care." He hesitated for a moment. "She, um… she's gonna be in hospital at least until she passes her due date…" He face fell… "There's still a road to go through, JJ…"She smiled. "I know… Can I see her?"

"I'll talk to the doctor, see what can happen." He looked out the window. "In the mean time, up for some visitors?"

She nodded and, for the hour was happy around her friends with the knowledge that her daughter, AJ Hotchner, was in the world and that the man she loved was standing by her.


	22. Introducing AJ Hotchner

Almost twenty weeks later JJ and Hotch walked into the bullpen, following a pram containing their healthy little girl Annabelle Jareau Hotchner, or AJ, as her parents dotingly called her.

As they walked through the door, the team came from all angles. Of course, Emily and Garcia were the first to rush over to them, and go all gooey over the sleeping baby. JJ and Hotch exchanged glances. As Morgan and Reid rose from their desks and Rossi came from his office, the two girls moved to their friend and wrapped their arms around her. Hotch picked up his daughter and proudly held her. He watched as JJ closed her eyes and hung on tightly to Emily and Garcia.

"WOW!" Reid exclaimed. "She's tiny."

"She was thirteen weeks premature…" JJ said, finally letting her friends go. She took the baby off Hotch and bounced the baby up and down.

"Aw, guys, she is so gorgeous…" Emily said.

Garcia gently took the girls hand. "Look at her itty bitty nose and those itty bitty eyes and those itty bitty fingers and…"

"I think we get the picture," Morgan interrupted. "She is very beautiful, guys. Congratulations."

"How old is she?" Rossi asked.

"Um… about nineteen and a half weeks now…"

"Oh your getting so big so quickly," Emily said in baby talk to AJ.

"Please don't… I'm already freaking out about going back to work."

"JJ…that's like nine months, right?" Morgan asked in disbelief.

"Morgan don't get me started about her starting school…"

Morgan took a step back.

Reid glanced at the clock on the wall and then at Emily. "Em…" he said quietly.

Emily looked at the clock. "Ohhhh…" she said, she hurriedly. She ran to her desk and grabbed her coat. JJ and Hotch watched, confused. She ran back to the small group. She kissed her fingers, placing them on the baby and gave JJ an quick kiss on the cheek.

"See you guys…" Reid said

"So glad you're both ok…"she said, before both she and Reid walked out.

JJ and Hotch stared after them. JJ looked at the other three. "What's going on there?"

"Ooh, baby boy has a date," Morgan stated

"Em and Spence are having dates now… That's, um…"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, JJ, can I hold her?" Garcia asked.

"Of course…" She handed her over to her.

"Oh god, she's so light.""I know… First time I held her I was terrified she was so light because maybe she was… stopped living…" She mouthed the last part.

Hotch looked straight ahead. "JJ she's sleeping, and even if she wasn't she wouldn't understand what you're talking about…"

"Negative vibes…" she countered.

"Alright, Baby Doll, you've had Baby Girl for a while now. Give us a go," Morgan said.

After several more minutes, mother and father decided to take daughter home

Hotch bounced down the stairs after putting her to bed. He tightly embraced JJ and kissed her temple. She barely looked up from her book but smiled and moved her head closer to his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Happy?" he asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Really?"

"Hotch, really… I'm really, really happy… I just want to finish my book." "Ok…" He kissed her again.

She put her book down. "Are you happy?"

"JJ, are you kidding me? I can't remember when I've been this happy."

JJ eyed him. "Prove it," she challenged.

"Like this." He moved an arm to her waist and kissed her, pushing her down to the couch.

"Some thing like that." She wrapped her arms around his neck and urged him to kiss her for longer.

In all her life JJ couldn't ever remember being happier then when she was, kissing her boyfriend, knowing her sleeping daughter was safe upstairs and that she was going to be very, very far away from the cruel, harsh world of serial killers and sex offenders while her family and friends would protect her.

**A/N: That was it. The final chapter of the first JJHotch story that came into my head. Hope you enjoyed. Tell me what you think of it by hitting the lilac colored button on the bottom of you screen. **

**BTW expect a second story of these two crazy kids… a continuation of a Bundle of Joy…**


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